is stationary, is exhibited from sunset to sunrise, and is visible in
clear weather at the distance of twelve miles. The light on the south
pier is a tide light, and is only shown when there is sufficient depth
of water on the bar for ships to enter. This light is of a red colour.
By day a flag is hoisted during tide-time.
Since the year 1200--and probably from a much earlier period--the
harbour at the mouth of the Wear appears to have been generally known as
that of Sunderland, the present name of the port and of the
parliamentary borough. "Various conjectures," says Mr. Surtees, "have
been formed as to the derivation of this name; the simplest and most
obvious seems to be, that it marked the original situation of the place
on a point of land almost insulated by the Wear and by the sea, which
has probably flowed much higher than at present up some of the deep
gullies on the coast, particularly Hendon-Dene, which, it seems,
contained, as late as 1350, water sufficient for vessels to ride at
anchor in the bay."
In 1719 an express distinction was made by an act of parliament, which
constituted Sunderland a separate parish from that of Bishop-Wearmouth,
in which it had formerly been included. This act was passed on the
petition of the inhabitants of Sunderland, who, between 1712 and 1719,
had built a new church. The old church of Bishop-Wearmouth--which was
pulled down and rebuilt in 1808--was probably founded shortly after the
date of Athelstan's grant. The rectory of Sunderland is but slenderly
endowed; that of Bishop-Wearmouth is one of the richest in the kingdom,
and was at one period held by the Rev. Dr. Wellesley, a brother of the
Duke of Wellington. Dr. Paley--whose "pigeon illustration," in his
_Moral Philosophy_, of the basis of political authority, is said to have
kept him out of a bishopric--was rewarded by Dr. Barrington, bishop of
Durham, with the rectory of Bishop-Wearmouth, where he died in 1805.
[Illustration: SUNDERLAND.
(_THE BRIDGE FROM THE WESTWARD._)]
SUNDERLAND.
THE BRIDGE FROM THE WESTWARD.
Under the general name of Sunderland, the three townships of
Monk-Wearmouth, Bishop-Wearmouth, and Sunderland are usually comprised.
Monk-Wearmouth is situated on the north side of the river Wear, at a
short distance from its mouth. Sunderland and Bishop-Wearmouth, which
form one continuous town, lie on the south side of the river;
Sunderland, properly so called, extending from the line of junction of
the two parishes, eastward to the sea; and Bishop-Wearmouth extending
towards the west. Sunderland--which has given its name to the port and
to the borough--is 269 miles distant from London; fourteen from Durham;
and thirteen from Newcastle-on-Tyne.
The great boast of Sunderland is the beautiful iron bridge, of a single
arch, which connects it with Monk-Wearmouth. This noble structure, which
is at once highly ornamental and useful, was projected by Rowland
Burdon, Esq., of Castle Eden, who in 1792, he being then M.P. for the
county of Durham, obtained an act of parliament empowering him to raise
money for its erection; the sums advanced to be secured on the tolls,
with five per cent. interest, and all further accumulation to go in
discharge of the capital. The abutments, from which the arch springs,
are nearly solid masses of masonry, twenty-four feet thick, forty-two
feet broad at bottom, and thirty-seven feet broad at top. That on the
south side is founded on a solid rock, which rises above the level of
the Wear; the foundation of that on the north side, owing to the
unfavourable nature of the ground, was obliged to be laid ten feet below
the level of the river. The arch, which is a segment of a large circle,
is of 236 feet span, and its centre is ninety-four feet above the level
of the river at low water. From the height of the arch and its
comparative flatness--its versed sine, or perpendicular height from its
centre to a line joining its extremities, being only thirty-four
feet--ships of 300 tons burden can pass underneath not only directly
below the centre, but also to the extent of fifty feet on each side. The
navigation of the river thus remains unobstructed--for many vessels
proceed to the staiths above the bridge for the purpose of taking in
their coals--while the inhabitants on each side enjoy all the advantages
of facilitated intercourse. The breadth of the bridge at the top is
thirty-two feet including the footpaths on each side; and the
carriage-way is formed of lime, marl, and gravel, above a flooring of
timber, which is laid across the iron ribs of the arch. The iron ribs
and blocks were cast and prepared at the foundry of Messrs. Walker, at
Rotherham, near Sheffield. The whole weight of the iron is 260 tons; of
which 46 tons are malleable, and 214 cast. The foundation-stone[4] was
laid on the 24th September, 1793, and the bridge opened to the public on
the 9th August, 1796, having been completed under the superintendence of
Mr. Thomas Wilson, of Bishop-Wearmouth, in less than three years. The
total expense was L26,000, of which sum L22,000 was subscribed by Mr.
Burdon.[5]
Although many ships are loaded direct from such staiths as are at a
short distance above the bridge, yet the greater part of the coals are
brought down in keels from staiths situated higher up the river. The
keels of the Wear, though of the same tonnage as those of the Tyne, are
somewhat differently built, being flatter in the bottom, and of a
lighter draught of water. The Sunderland keels are managed by only one
man, who usually has a boy to assist him. In the Wear the coals when in
bulk are cast from the keel into the ship by men called coal-casters;
while on the Tyne, where the crew of each keel consists of three men and
a boy, the coals are always cast by the keelmen. Within the last few
years, a considerable quantity of coals, in order to prevent the
breakage occasioned by discharging them into the keels from the spout,
and then casting them into the ship, have been put on board the keels in
_tubs_, which are afterwards raised by machinery to the vessel's deck,
and then discharged into the hold. These tubs are exactly like coal
waggons without their wheels, and contain the same quantity--one
Newcastle chalder, or fifty-three cwt.[6] Each keel carries eight of
these tubs. The number of keels employed on the Wear is above 500.
[4] The inscription on the foundation-stone contains a bad pun: "Quo
tempore civium Gallicorum ardor vesanus prava jubentium gentes turbavit
Europeas _ferreo_ bello, Rolandus Burdon armiger, meliora colens, Vedrae
ripas, scopulis praeruptis, ponte conjungere _ferreo_ statuit."
[5] Surtees's Hist. of Durham, vol. 1, p. 226.
[6] Evidence of Sir Cuthbert Sharp before the Lords' Committee on the
Coal Trade, 1829, p. 23.
[Illustration: ENTRANCE TO SHIELDS HARBOUR.]
SHIELDS.
ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOUR.
The view of the entrance to Shields Harbour is taken from the bank a
little below the Spanish Battery, on the north side of the Tyne, and
about a quarter of a mile to the south-westward of Tynemouth lighthouse.
To the left, a part of South Shields is seen, with a vessel "dropping
up" the Narrows, just before entering the harbour. Towards the middle of
the Engraving are the two lighthouses at North Shields--distinguished by
their flag-staffs--which, when taken in a line, are a guide for vessels
in passing the bar. To the right of the low lighthouse is Clifford's
Fort, enclosed by the line of embrasures, and commanding the entrance to
the harbour. To the right are the banks, of clay, which extend from the
Spanish Battery to the Low Lights, and upon which the sea is every year
gradually making encroachments. The present Engraving, independent of
its beauty as a work of art, possesses the merit of containing the only
correct view of the entrance to Shields Harbour which has hitherto
appeared.
That portion of the river Tyne which may be considered as Shields
Harbour is about a mile and a half in length, supposing it to commence
at the Low Lights, on the north side, and to terminate at the lower end
of Jarrow Slake, at the head of South Shields; its direction is from
east by north to west by south; and the towns of North and South Shields
are built on the banks and by the shore on each side of it. As the Low
Lights are about a mile within the bar, the swell of the sea is not felt
within the harbour.
The river is of unequal width, being in some places not more than 400
yards broad, while in others, when the sands are covered with the tide,
its width is upwards of 600. From the shoals and varying width of the
river, the velocity of the current differs with the breadth of the
harbour. Opposite to the New Quay at North Shields, the average velocity
in the middle of the tide-way is, at half flood, about three miles an
hour; and, at half ebb, about three miles and three quarters an hour. As
the easterly wind blows directly into the harbour, vessels formerly were
often hindered from getting out to sea, even in fine weather, when the
wind was in that quarter, more especially if they were of considerable
draught of water; for frequently before such a vessel could drop down
with the ebbing tide as far as the bar, there was not sufficient depth
of water on it to allow her to proceed to sea. The general introduction,
however, of steam-boats for the purpose of towing vessels, when the wind
is shy or contrary, has, in a great measure, remedied this
inconvenience, and vessels now proceed to sea at any time, in favourable
weather, when there is a sufficient depth of water on the bar.
The town of South Shields is very irregularly built; and the principal
street for business extends from the market-place to the lower end of
the town. The market-place, in the centre of which stands the town hall,
is spacious, but the market is very indifferently supplied with every
thing except fish. Westoe, anciently Wivestoe, is a pleasant village
about a mile southward of South Shields, where several ship-owners and
persons of property reside. Jarrow, so famous in days of yore for its
monastery, is about a mile and a half to the westward of Westoe; and in
the vestry an old chair is still preserved, which is said to have been
the seat of the venerable Bede.
The town of North Shields lies on the north side of the river Tyne, and
is in the county of Northumberland. The principal street for business,
and which may be considered as forming the greater part of the old town,
is the Low-street, running nearly parallel with, and at a short distance
from, the river, and extending from the New Quay to the Low Lights. The
greater part of the town, which is built on the bank top, extending in
regular streets towards the north, has been erected within the last
fifty years.
At the New Quay there is a commodious wharf, with warehouses at each
end, where trading vessels load and unload, and where steam-boats leave
for Newcastle. A little above the New Quay is the landing for the steam
ferry-boat, which plies between North and South Shields, and leaves each
place four times an hour, from seven in the morning till dusk, carrying
passengers across the river at the charge of a penny each. This ferry,
which was only established in 1829, is a great accommodation to both the
towns. Previous to its establishment, the conveyance of sheep, cattle,
and horses across the Tyne, in an awkward flat-bottomed boat, managed by
a single man, was attended with great inconvenience. The barge steam
ferry-boats now employed are surrounded with a strong railing; and
sheep, cattle, and horses can be driven on board with little trouble,
and conveyed across the river without risk.
[Illustration: NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE.]
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE.
The view of Newcastle is taken from the Gateshead shore, on the south
side of the river Tyne, about a quarter of a mile below the bridge. From
the point chosen by the artist, a better and more _characteristic_ view
of the town is obtained than from any other station. The line of
vessels, extending from the right of the engraving to the bridge,
indicates the quay--the longest in England, except that of Yarmouth--and
which, on a Saturday, when the country people come in to market, is one
of the most crowded thoroughfares in the kingdom. The steeple that rises
above the houses to the right is that of All Saints. Between All Saints
and the Castle--which is distinguished by its modern turrets and
battlements--is the famed steeple of St. Nicholas; this the Rev. Dr.
Carlyle, vicar of Newcastle, in 1804, declared to be, in his opinion,
"the most beautiful fabric existing in the world: surpassing the
Cathedral of St. Sophia, at Constantinople; the Mosque of Sultan
Saladin, at Jerusalem; the Church of St. Peter, at Rome; and even the
Temple of Minerva, at Athens." The modern building, with a Grecian
portico, in front of the Castle, is the County Court, where the assizes
for the county of Northumberland are held. The Exchange is hidden by the
sails of the large vessel, towards the middle of the engraving; and the
bridge excludes a view of the Mansion House, which stands in friendly
neighbourhood with a glass-house and a soapery, in a narrow street, with
a most expressive name--the "Close."
The town of Newcastle, though its present name is not older than the
reign of William the Conqueror, claims to be a place of great antiquity.
The Roman Wall--which extended from Wallsend, about four miles eastward
of Newcastle, to Bowness on the Sands, in Cumberland--crossed the site
of the present town; and it is certain that there was a Roman station
here, the southern wall of which probably ran along the high ground
overlooking the river in front of the old castle. In the list of
stations, with their garrisons, on the line of the wall, as given in the
_Notitia_, _Pons AElii_ occurs as the next station to _Segedunum_; and
our best informed antiquaries appear to agree in assigning the latter
name to the station at Wallsend, and the former to the station at
Newcastle. The name _Pons AElii_, however, occurs in no other ancient
work as the name of a station on the line of the wall, and no
inscription has been discovered which might confirm the opinion of its
being the name of the station at Newcastle. Different writers also have
interpreted the list of stations in the _Notitia_ from different ends,
and at the present time the situation of several places remains
undecided.
The Tyne is navigable as high up as Newcastle, about ten miles from its
mouth, for vessels of 250 tons burden, though in some places between
Newcastle and Shields, even in the middle of the stream, its depth does
not exceed four feet at low water. A little below Hebburn quay, about
half-way between Newcastle and Shields, it is not unusual to see three
or four small steam-boats, which do not draw more than three feet water,
lying aground in the very mid-channel at the last quarter ebb, and
waiting for the flood tide to set them afloat. A few years ago, the
corporation of Newcastle, as conservators of the river Tyne, employed a
steam-boat to _scratch_ away the sand in shallow places, by means of a
kind of harrow, which she towed after her. Since the accession of the
present corporation to office, a dredging machine has been employed, and
if they proceed in their plans for the improvement of the river as they
have begun, they will merit the thanks of every person interested in the
trade of the town.
But, however praiseworthy may be their efforts for the deepening and
cleansing the bed of the Tyne, the present year (1853) has exhibited
melancholy testimony that the streets, lanes, and alleys of Newcastle
call aloud for the expenditure of the municipal funds--if the lives of
the inhabitants are not of less value than the commerce of the port. The
ill-drained and badly-ventilated dwellings of some of the more
densely-peopled portions of the town have suffered more from the attacks
of cholera than any other place in the kingdom.
The chief exports from Newcastle, besides coals, are pig and sheet lead;
anchors, and chain cables, with other articles of wrought iron; bottles,
plate and crown glass; brown and white paper; common leather gloves,
manufactured at Hexham; leather; hams and butter; grindstones, obtained
on Gateshead Fell; fire-bricks; alkalies; soap; and Epsom salts. This
list comprises the principal articles which constitute the cargo of a
Newcastle trading vessel proceeding to London.
[Illustration: BLYTH.]
BLYTH.
The view of Blyth, or more properly of the entrance to the harbour, is
taken from the north side of the river, and looking towards the
south-east. The cottages seen in the foreground are in North Blyth,
which consists only of a few houses, chiefly occupied by fishermen and
pilots. On the opposite side of the river are seen the lighthouse of
stone, and the "basket light" to the left of it, in which lights are
exhibited at night when there is eight feet water on the bar.
Blyth, which is a small seaport town on the coast of Northumberland, and
about thirteen miles north-east of Newcastle, derives its name from the
river Blyth, on the south side of which it is built. The principal trade
of Blyth is in coals, of which more than 120,000 tons are now annually
exported. The earliest notice of Blyth as a harbour occurs in _Bishop
Hatfield's Survey_ in 1346, from which it appears that the Bishop of
Durham claimed fourpence for every ship which anchored there, and that
the sum received for that year was 3_s._ 4_d._ At what time the
coal-trade was first established there is uncertain, but so early as
1610 a complaint appears to have been made to Parliament on account of a
late imposition of a shilling a chalder levied on coals shipped at Blyth
and Sunderland, "not by virtue of any contract or grant, as in the coals
of Newcastle, but under the mere pretext of his majesty's royal
prerogative." In 1624, Blyth is again mentioned in a proclamation, as a
place exporting sea-coals; and in 1643 an order of Parliament prohibits
ships from bringing coals or salt from Newcastle or Blyth, as those
places were then in the hands of the Royalists.
Within the last forty years the trade of Blyth has much increased in
consequence of the opening of new collieries in the neighbourhood. A
commodious dry dock was formed in 1811; and there are several slips for
the building and repairing of ships. A considerable quantity of articles
of cast and malleable iron, manufactured at Bedlington, about three
miles up the river, are shipped at Blyth.
Blyth is a member of the port of Newcastle; and a number of vessels
belonging to persons residing there are registered at the latter port.
Nearly the whole of Blyth is the property of Sir M. Ridley, Bart. At
spring tides there is about fourteen feet water on the bar, and about
twelve at neaps; but at low water the bar is nearly dry.
It may be interesting to contemplate a few facts and figures in
connexion with that trade which forms the principal occupation of Blyth
and its neighbouring ports. From the evidence of an experienced
coal-engineer,[7] given a few years since before a Parliamentary
Committee, we learn, "that the number of persons employed under-ground
on the Tyne are--men, 4,937; boys, 3,554; together, 8,491:
above-ground--men, 2,745; boys, 718; making 3,463: making the total
employed in the mines above and below ground, 11,954, which in round
numbers I call 12,000, because I am pretty sure there were some
omissions in the returns. On the river Wear, I conceive there are 9,000
employed; making 21,000 employed in digging the coal, and delivering it
to the ships on the two rivers. From the best calculations I have been
able to make, it would appear that, averaging the coasting-vessels that
carry coals at the size of 220 London chaldrons each vessel, there would
be 1,400 vessels employed, which would require 15,000 seamen and boys. I
have made a summary. There are, seamen, 15,000; pitmen and above-ground
people employed at the collieries, 21,000; keel-men, coal-boatmen,
casters, and trimmers, 2,000: making the total number employed in what I
call the Northern Coal Trade, 38,000. In London, whippers, lightermen,
and so forth, 5,000; factors, agents, &c., on the Coal Exchange,
2,500;-7,500 in all, in London. Making the grand total in the North
country and London departments of the trade, 45,500. This does not, of
course, include the persons employed at the outports in discharging the
ships there."
[7] Mr. Buddle, of Wallsend, whose statistics of the coal-trade have
been quoted by McCulloch and other writers on the subject.
[Illustration: TYNEMOUTH CASTLE.
_VESSEL WRECKED ON THE ROCKS._]
TYNEMOUTH.
VESSEL ON THE ROCKS.
The engraving presents a view of a vessel on the rocks, at the foot of
the cliff, to the north-east of Tynemouth castle, as seen from the
Ox-fall, in coming from Cullercoat Sands. On the top of the cliff is the
lighthouse; in the foreground are various indications of a wreck;
towards the middle of the engraving is the vessel "high and dry" upon
the rocks; and in the distance, on the left hand, is seen Souter Point,
in the county of Durham, about four miles distant from Tynemouth.
The village of Tynemouth, which gives name to an extensive and populous
parish, is situated near the mouth of the river Tyne, at the southern
extremity of the county of Northumberland. It is a short mile distant
from North Shields, about nine miles to the eastward of Newcastle, and
two hundred and seventy-six from London. It consists chiefly of one wide
street, which runs nearly east and west, with one or two smaller streets
to the northward, nearly in the same direction.
The ruins of Tynemouth priory, which, with the adjacent lighthouse, form
one of the most conspicuous landmarks on the eastern coast of England,
lie to the eastward of the village. The priory is built on a small rocky
peninsula, which is bound, from south-west to north-east, by a steep and
lofty cliff; and the entrance to this enclosure, which is of about six
acres area, is through the gateway underneath the castle. The whole of
the enclosed space is fortified according to the rules of modern
defensive warfare, and a party of artillery are always stationed at the
castle. There is a public walk round the whole of the castle-yard; and
the view of the coast, looking either to the north or south, is
extremely interesting. From the top of the lighthouse, which stands at a
short distance to the north-east of the priory, the Cheviot Hills, on
the borders of Scotland, can be plainly seen; and, looking southward,
the view extends across the Durham coast as far as Huntcliffe Fort, in
Yorkshire; and, in very clear weather, Flamborough Head, which is about
seventy-two miles distant, may be perceived.
Although the present castle of Tynemouth, the appearance of which has
been considerably altered within the last thirty years, may not be of
very great antiquity, yet it is certain that Robert de Mowbray, in
1095, when he entered into a conspiracy to dethrone William Rufus, had a
castle at Tynemouth, and that he converted the peninsular area on which
it was built into a place of great strength. After a siege of two
months, the castle was taken by the king, and the earl escaped to
Bamborough. Mowbray, subsequently, being pursued by the king's party,
when endeavouring to gain admission into the castle of Newcastle, took
sanctuary in Tynemouth church, from which, however, he was dragged by
his enemies, and made prisoner.