[3] On the Gateshead riverbank, a few yards downstream of the old bridge, stood the splendid new mill premises of Messrs. J. Wilson & Sons, worsted manufacturers.

[4] At half past midnight on Friday 6 October 1854, the mill was discovered to be on fire; the cry was raised and immediately the streets crowded with people hurrying to the scene of the growing conflagration.

[5] In the immediate neighbourhood of Wilson & Sons was a bond warehouse built twelve years previously by Charles Bertram, and generally known by his name.

[6] Despite this, from its proximity to the worsted factory, the intense heat caused the sulphur to ignite, melt and stream in a burning blue flame liquidised state from the windows.

The authorities, abandoning the mill, sought to save the warehouse, directing all their efforts on it, and were reinforced by the military with their fire engine.

The sulphurous blaze illuminated the river and its shipping, the High Level Bridge, the Castle, the steeples of All Saints', St. Nicholas' and St. Mary's churches, and every prominent object, with a lurid purple light.

From the various floors of the warehouse the sulphur flowed in torrents like streams of lava, and the building resembled "a cataract on fire".

Yet at this point the occurrence had borne no aspect other than that of a fearful blaze, a tremendous firestorm sufficiently serious of itself, and altogether unprecedented in the annals of the district.

[7] Such a large fire naturally attracted many spectators, who occupied every spot on the bridges, boats, quayside and surrounding buildings.

Huge granite blocks forming the tramway for carts outside the warehouse were flung over the church for two and three hundred yards into neighbouring streets and buildings.

A stone weighing 18.5 pounds (8.4 kg) fell through the roof of an opticians in Grey Street; when workmen discovered it in the morning it was still too hot to touch.

They describe themselves as having been lifted from their feet and dashed down, the violence completely stunning them; and when they awoke in a stupor they had only the dim idea of a rolling sound in their ears.

[14] The projectile power of the explosion scattered burning debris widely across Newcastle; and the blast peeled off roofs as if to receive this flaming rain.

The entire combined strengths of the local fire brigades had been directed on the Gateshead properties and were, besides, buried beneath the rubble.

[15] The High Level Bridge provided an excellent elevated platform for observation of the twin fires, as they extended in Gateshead and Newcastle; the lower portions of the towns "took on the aspect of a burning cauldron".

[17] As soon as the area's telegraph wires, damaged by the explosion, could be made good, calls for assistance went out to the surrounding towns and cities.

[18] After noon, a renewal of the conflagration on the Gateshead side arose as a stream of blazing sulphur made its way east along the riverbank, setting light to Mr. Davidson's flour mill, which had hitherto merely been ruined by the explosion.

This mass of buildings was still alight at midnight, at which point the flames were licking at St. Mary's church; but this was saved by heroic effort.

In the emergency, it was resolved to demolish by explosion some of the already shattered houses to the east of the fire to form a firebreak, a task quickly accomplished by parties of sappers and miners.

Queen Victoria contributed £100, and later, on a visit to Balmoral had the royal train stop on the High Level Bridge so she could observe the damage.

The inhabitants of Alnwick succeeded in raising £300, including a donation of £100 from the Duke of Northumberland; several other towns contributed in a similar liberal way.

As to properties on the waterfront, the following were destroyed:[21] Banks of tenement housing on the hill behind the mill and warehouse were variously levelled, greatly damaged and consigned to the flames.

Lord Palmerston, the Prime Minister appointed one Captain Ducane of the Royal Engineers to attend on the government's behalf, and dispatched Alfred Swaine Taylor FRS to investigate the chemical causes of the explosion.

Great lengths were taken, including the posting of a reward for information, to ascertain whether gunpowder was stored in the warehouse; but all evidence pointed against it.

Hugh Lee Patterson, a partner in a chemical company at Felling and Washington examined the evidence and ran tests; and offered a theory that a sudden water inundation onto burning sulphur would have had sufficient energy to cause the explosion.

The difficulty with this explanation was in believing that the vaults were well enough sealed as to result in an explosion, when a more gradual forcing up of the cellar roof might more reasonably be anticipated.