The 2nd Newcastle was absorbed into the 3rd Northumberland in 1868, in which year the brigade's HQ moved from Tynemouth to Newcastle. The 1st Durham AVC was added to the Admin Brigade in 1873. The Volunteers were consolidated into larger units in 1880, and the Administrative Brigade became the 1st Northumberland and Durham Artillery Volunteers on 23 July with its HQ at Newcastle:  However, the Tynemouth Volunteers were withdrawn to become independent again in April 1884. They were supposed to become the new 3rd Northumberland, but objected to the title, asserting their primacy, and in August were renamed The Tynemouth Artillery Volunteers (with emphasis on the definite article 'The'). The unit became part of the RA's Northern Division on 1 April 1882, then the Western Division on 1 July 1889. By now the unit had eight batteries. In the early years, the volunteer gunners practised on whatever guns were available, including those at Tynemouth Castle. But in addition to manning fixed coast defence artillery, some of the early Artillery Volunteers manned semi-mobile 'position batteries' of smooth-bore field guns pulled by agricultural horses. The Tynemouth Artillery Volunteers were supplied with light 9-pounder field guns in 1869. But the War Office refused to pay for the upkeep of field guns for Volunteers and they had largely died in the 1870s. In 1888 the 'position artillery' concept was revived and some Volunteer companies were reorganised as position batteries to work alongside the Volunteer infantry brigades. The Tynemouth Volunteer Artillery were re-equipped with 20-pounder field and 40-pounder fort guns in 1889 and on 14 July 1892 they were reorganised as a position battery and six companies:   In 1893, the batteries at Tynemouth Castle were equipped with modern 6-inch breechloading guns on hydro-pneumatic disappearing carriages, and the Tynemouth Volunteer Artillery immediately began training to operate them. This was reflected in the War Office Mobilisation Scheme for that year, which allocated the unit to the Tynemouth fixed defences. On 1 June 1899 the RA was split into Royal Field Artillery and Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA), which was responsible for all coastal and fortress artillery; the Volunteers were affiliated to the RGA. On 1 January 1902 the RA abandoned its divisional organisation and the unit changed its designation to Tynemouth Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers). When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, the Tynemouth RGA was intended to combine with the 1st Durham RGA to form a Northumberland and Durham RGA (and spin off a battery and ammunition column for the local RFA brigade).