Tynemouth (/ˈtaɪnmaʊθ/) is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in Tyne and Wear, England.

At the 2021 census the Tynemouth built-up area as defined by the Office for National Statistics (which also includes North Shields) had a population of 60,605.

A village had long been established in the shelter of the fortified Priory, and around 1325 the prior built a port for fishing and trading.

[8] In the 19th century North Shields rapidly expanded from a small fishing village into a town, overtaking Tynemouth itself to become the largest settlement in the parish.

[18] Tynemouth has a very moderated oceanic climate heavily influenced by its position adjacent to the North Sea.

Sunshine levels of 1515 hours per annum are in the normal range for the coastal North East, which is also true for the relatively low amount of precipitation at 597.2 millimetres (23.51 in).

[22] Prior's Haven is a small beach within the mouth of the Tyne, sheltered between the Priory and the Spanish Battery, with the pier access on its north side.

The larger central memorial is made of white granite with a cruciform column rising from between four struts in a contemporary design for its time.

Designed by Oliver and Lamb with carvings by Robert Beall, the tower housed a clock by Joyce of Whitchurch.

[27] Made of polychrome bricks and ashlar, the tower (which has been Grade II listed since 1986) is described as being in the Venetian Gothic style.

Though founded in Jarrow in 1860, the school moved to its present site in Tynemouth in 1865 originally providing a private education for local boys.

[30] Hollywood film director Sir Ridley Scott, and racing driver Jason Plato also attended the school.

This massive stone breakwater extends from the foot of the Priory some 900 yards (810 metres) out to sea, protecting the northern flank of the mouth of the Tyne.

On the lee side is a lower level rail track, formerly used by trains and cranes during the construction and maintenance of the pier.

[35] The revolving optic, manufactured by Barbier, Bénard, et Turenne, displayed a flash three times every ten seconds; it remains in use today.

[37] The lighthouse was also equipped with a reed fog signal, powered by compressed air, which was mounted 'on the cupola'; it sounded one long blast every ten seconds.

On 20 October 2023, the dome of the lighthouse was "forcibly removed by the relentless combination of sea and wind"[42] caused by Storm Babet.

[43] The promontory supposedly takes its name from Spanish mercenaries who manned guns there in the 16th century to defend Henry VIII's fleet.

The figure is some 23 feet (7.0 m) tall and stands on a massive base incorporating a flight of steps flanked by four cannons from HMS Royal Sovereign – Collingwood's ship at Trafalgar.

In response a meeting was held in North Shields Town Hall in December 1864 at which it was agreed that a body of men should be formed to assist the Coastguard in the event of such disasters.

They were restored in 2012, and the station now provides a venue for a weekend "flea market", book fairs, craft displays, coffee shops, restaurants, exhibitions and other events.

Large vessels were being towed in and out over the stormy bar with prodigious waves breaking on it; and, spanning the restless uproar of the waters, was a quiet rainbow of transcendent beauty.

[66] Lewis Carroll states in the first surviving diary of his early manhood, that he met 'three nice little children' belonging to a Mrs Crawshay in Tynemouth on 21 August 1855.

Algernon Charles Swinburne arrived hot foot from Wallington Hall in December 1862 and proceeded to accompany William Bell Scott and his guests, probably including Dante Gabriel Rossetti on a trip to Tynemouth.

Scott writes that as they walked by the sea, Swinburne declaimed his Hymn to Proserpine and Laus Veneris in his strange intonation, while the waves 'were running the whole length of the long level sands towards Cullercoats and sounding like far-off acclamations'.

Peter the Great of Russia is reputed to have stayed briefly in Tynemouth while on an incognito visit to learn about shipbuilding on the Tyne.

Tynemouth Pageant is a community organisation in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, devoted to staging an open-air dramatic pageant every three years in the grounds of Tynemouth Castle and Priory, by kind permission of English Heritage who run the historic monastic and defensive site at the mouth of the River Tyne.