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Three Tuns Lane was apparently well established as a route by 1774 - the Inn being an important feature of Alnwick in those days. The adjacent Dodd's lane appears on the 1827 map, separated for much of the distance between Market Street and Green Batt by a formal garden. By 1851 Dodd's Lane was interrupted by development into Upper and Lower Dodd's Lane, as is still the case today. The stage of development reached by the mid-1800s is clearly illustrated by the Ordnance Survey plan of 1866. It is thought that both lanes were allowed gradually to deteriorate into slums. At about the time of the foundation of the Civic Society (1974), a delegation from the Civic Trust, led by Lady Dartmouth and accompanied by several civic dignitaries was diverted (slightly against its will) by the Society's present Chairman from its walk of inspection along Green Batt into the then-derelict Three Tuns Lane, whereupon the potential for its restoration was first noticed and, later, acted upon by a private developer. The result is a mixture of restored and new buildings, many of which are now in use as privately-owned dwellings in a secluded, mews-like setting, with car-parking for residents in what was the Fontana garden.