Though the splendid architecture of Newcastle's 'Tyneside Classical' style is usually attached to the name of John Dobson (q.v.), several notable architects were involved, all local men. One was John Stokoe, responsible for the powerful Moot Hall in Newcastle (1810) and the elegant High and Low lights in North Shields. Others included John and Benjamin Green (qq. v.), Thomas Oliver, the builder of mighty Leazes terrace (1828) and John Wardle, designer of the Hancock Museum.
Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, the great authority remarks:

' Two things... distinguish Newcastle from Leeds or Bradford or Sheffield or any other industrial city of the North. One is the river, the other Richard Grainger. The river - and this is perhaps the most exciting visual experience of Newcastle - has steep banks, and so the most violent contrasts of level are met with everywhere in the old centre; bridges high overhead, a hundred steps winding their way down, buildings rising on top of buildings. In what way Grainger's work forms a special distinction need nowadays hardly be emphasised. It has given the whole centre of the old town a dignity and orderliness which even the twentieth century advertising hysteria has not succeeded in destroying. '

Of Grey Street in particular, Pevsner remarks: 'Grey Street is... one of the best in England.' It is now known that only the East side below Shakespeare Street is Dobson's work. The rest is by John and Benjamin Green (qq.v) and John Wardle and George Walker. John Betjeman, speaking in the Newcastle Lit and Phil in 1948, said: 'As for the curve of Grey Street, I shall never forget seeing it to perfection... Not even Regent Street... can compare to that descending subtle curve.'
It was in 1834 that Grainger's detailed proposals for a new town centre first appeared in the council's minute books. The speed of Grainger's work is astonishing. On 24 May 1836, he signed a contract with the owners of the old Theatre Royal in Mosley Street to build them a new and beautiful theatre. The old building was down in a day, and by June 1837, the new streets had been completed, flagged and the premises occupied.
Grainger himself, born in High Friar Lane in 1797, is sometimes referred to merely as a speculative builder with a daring vision but he was described in the town council obituary as 'one of the greatest architects of his age' and there is no doubt that Grainger had a great a deal to do with the design of the buildings he promoted and built. The fine street and covered markets which bear his name are no mean testimony to his work. Thomas Dibdin (1776-1847), the traveller and librarian at Althorp, has left us a description of the markets:

'Learn therefore, that there is here the LARGEST market-place in England: probably in Europe... The markets of Newcastle cover somewhat more than two acres... The roof is of wood, with pendant corbels: the sides are of substantial stone. The whole is lofty, capacious and calculated for every good service, as well as picturesque effect. At given stations, there are fountains of marble in the centre: of which the water, in warm weather, refrigerates and sweetens the whole atmosphere. It is a glorious vista - and was once occupied (on the opening of the markets 22 October 1835) by TWO THOUSAND GUESTS; irradiated by gas-light. "Nothing has been seen like it (said my friend Mr Adamson) since the days of Belshazzar..."'

Decades before Baron Haussmann was given his Parisian carte blanche from Louis Napoleon (landing the city with an enormous debt, ensuring his dismissal two years later) Grainger and Dobson were completing the first comprehensive rebuilding of a modern city. It should be remembered that the buildings of Regency Newcastle differ from Nash's London work by being of finely-cut ashlar as opposed to the capital's stucco. Ian Nairn, editor of the Architectural Review characterised Grey Street as 'Nash's regent Street with an added dimension and better workmanship, one of the great planned streets of Britain.' Though the Royal Exchange and most of Eldon Square have gone, much remains to lift the heart. Nairn described walking through Newcastle as 'an ennobling experience... Too many superlatives? I don't think so.'
In St John's church in Westgate Road, one may see a memorial of 1888 to Richard Grainger. 'A citizen of Newcastle does not need to be reminded of the genius... a stranger is referred to the principal streets in the centre of this city.'