South Shields Totally Explained

Everything about South Shields totally explained

South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear in north east England at the mouth of the River Tyne. The town has a population of about 90,000 and is part of the metropolitan borough of South Tyneside, which includes the riverside towns of Jarrow and Hebburn and the villages of Boldon, Cleadon and Whitburn.

History

Roman times

The earliest inhabitants of the area were the Brigantes, a strong and fiercely independent Ancient British tribe. However, there's no evidence to suggest they built a settlement where the present day town now stands. It was John Leland in the 16th century who first suggested the town had been known as 'Caer Urfa.' The Brythonic word 'Caer' meaning a fortified place or seat of royal power, 'Urfa' is suggested to be a simple corruption of 'Vide Infra', the Aramaic name for the Roman stronghold.
A large Roman fort, Arbeia, has been excavated in South Shields on the Lawe Top overlooking the River Tyne. In 2005, it was the setting for an investigation by the Channel 4 Time Team programme. Founded c. AD 120 the fort is mentioned in The Notitia Dignitatum (a list of forts and bases compiled in the 4th century) where it's referred to as Vide Infra. This is from the Aramaic for "place of the Arabs" (the local garrison came from the areas near the River Tigris in modern day Iran and Iraq). A Latinised version of this name is Arbeia, by which the fort is well known. It is recorded that over 70 men were brought from this Middle-Eastern Region to work as bargemen. Their expertise was needed to navigate the river with supplies. Arbeia was intended as the maritime supply fort for Hadrian's Wall and contains the only permanent stone-built granaries yet found in Britain. It was occupied until the Romans left Britain in the 5th century. A Roman gatehouse and barracks have been reconstructed on their original foundations, while a museum holds artefacts such as an altarpiece to a previously unknown god, and a Roman-era gravestone set up by a native Palmyrene to his freedwoman and wife, a Briton of the Catuvellauni tribe. There is also a tablet bearing the name of the emperor Alexander Severus.
The fort was at the end of a road named Wrekendike connected to a larger road which lead between Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelivs) and Chester-Le-Street (Congangis). Parts of this road are still visible in Wrekenton near Gateshead. The Romans also built a small wharf in nearby Marsden Bay for the purposes of loading sandstone from a quarry. The wharf's remnants remain today although time and tide have left little to see. Arbeia was abandoned by the Romans c. AD 400, when Emperor Honorius informed the people of Britain that they must look to their own country's defences. One of the many peoples to take advantage of the Roman Empire's collapse were the Anglo-Saxons.

Dark Ages

Britain in the 6th century is often considered a confused and violent place, the Romans taking their laws, gods and legions with them when they left. However, the north east of England became a centre of learning and education, a beacon of light throughout Europe. King Oswald of Northumbria united the kingdoms of Bernicia to the north of the River Tees and Deira stretching south to the River Humber, creating the powerful and influential Kingdom of Northumbria. In AD 647 King Oswy of Northumbria (Oswald's brother) at the request of St. Aidan allowed a monastery to be built. The site today is in the very town centre of South Shields and is named St. Hilda's Church, although the original Anglo-Saxon building is but a remnant under the present Norman nave. St. Hilda's was one of many monastic institutions along the coast of north east England including Jarrow, where the Venerable Bede lived and worked.
In about AD 865 the monastery at St. Hilda's was raided by the Vikings. However, the Vikings (or Danes) weren't just raiders; they created settlements, brought new customs, laws and gods, effectively controlling all of northern England. This form of government was known as the Danelaw. Anglo-Saxon and Danish influence can be seen to this day; the Geordie dialect and accent spoken throughout the north east contain more words and pronunciations of Anglo-Saxon and Danish origin than standard English.

Middle Ages

In 1100 the Normans built St. Hilda's Church where the nunnery once stood, in the town's market place. The church remains one of the oldest churches in the UK.
   The first reference to 'Scheles' (fishermens' huts) occurs in 1235, and the town proper was founded by the Prior and Convent of Durham in 1245. On account of the complaints of the burgesses of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, an order was made in 1258, stipulating that no ships should be laden or unladen at 'Scheles,' and that no shoars or quays should be built there. South Shields then developed as a fishing port.
   Salt panning along the Tyne began in 1499 and achieved major importance; Daniel Defoe speaks of the clouds of smoke being visible for miles, while a witness in 1743 mentions two hundred boiling-pans. Glass manufacturing was begun by Isaac Cookson in 1650 and there were eight glassworks by 1827. Coalmining and chemical manufacture also became important. South Shields had the largest alkali works in the world.
   In 1644, during the English Civil War, Parliament's Scottish allies under Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven laid siege to Newcastle-upon-Tyne and captured the watchtower on the Lawe Top at South Shields (Sunderland declared for Parliament and invited the Scottish army in). The Royalist forces retreated to the south but turned to fight at the small town of Boldon (halfway between South Shields and Sunderland). The ensuing battle is known as the Battle of Boldon Hill and was a victory for the Scots who later destroyed the rest of the Royalist army at the Battle of Marston Moor.

19th century

The Industrial Revolution changed the way we live forever. South Shields was at the forefront of this revolution from the start. With the North Sea to the east South Shields had a plentiful supply of salt water. In 1767 the town had 200 salt pans where sea water was boiled away to leave the salt. These pans consumed 1000 tons of coal per year and produced hydrochloric acid that caused terrible pollution as well as smoke that could be seen for many miles. Demand for chemical products such as soap, bleach and dyes for the cloth market increased the industry on Tyneside and in South Shields' Tyne Dock area an alkali works was opened in 1822. Alkali could be mixed with other substances to produce soap, alum and also glass. South Tyneside was noted for glassmaking as far back as the 17th century and by 1845 the town was producing more plate glass than anywhere else in England.
   South Shields was under the ownership of the Bishops of Durham for centuries. The bishops had a long running dispute with the mayors of Newcastle-upon-Tyne who claimed the monopoly on exporting coal from the Tyne. Ports were banned from shipping coal apart from at populated Newcastle with its labour force. The king (King Edward I) supported the mayor's case because Newcastle already had the infrastructure and he could profit from the taxes and duties where as any profit the bishops made went to the Church. Despite the fact that it was more attractive for the king, country, Newcastle and the whole Tyne working population, to have the Tyne spread and increase its population with the highly valued empty land on the Tyne’s shipping lines developed for an economic nexus of various linked industries; with the benefits being a sustained economy, jobs, housing, and more taxes for the king and the British Empire.
   Coal seams around the Tyne are comparatively shallow and coal had been fairly easy to obtain in the area for many years. In the 18th and 19th centuries, demand for coal was growing exponentially. The king needed more taxes and he needed reform. It was logic and strategic that the Tyne with its useful shipping ways needed to spread its population with migration and to encourage further migration from other places like rural County Durham, rural Northumberland, Scotland and Ireland. It needed to develop its land for future industry.
   Reform: Though with nothing like the democracy we see today, the Great Reform Act of 1832, championed by Lord Grey and the Whigs, County Durham was forced to return two members for two divisions, and the boroughs of Gateshead and South Shields acquired representation. South Shields got its own MP and would eventually go on to be more representative of the spreading and growing population on the Tyne. The king's Tyne shipping lines were freer politically from County Durham and its balancing act with three rivers. It could now develop its industry and use its land to good effect for its own interests and destiny. The king was to soon use quality land with industry to tax. The Tyne was to become one of the most productive rivers in the world.
   It was a slow start, however, as large scale shipping and skilled shipbuilding was at first not possible; there wasn't the local population available to raise and train a skilled labour force.
   With easily accessible resources like coal and a need to develop more Tyne shipyards along the shipping lines on the valued land, the needed migration eventually became a reality and began to bring about the industrial and economic boom. This involved mining, shipbuilding and shipping the produce; bringing more taxes for the king.
   As the demand continued to grow the coal industry reached new heights with pits opening all over the north east but especially around the River Tyne. In South Shields the population soared from approximately 12,000 in 1801 to 75,000 by the late 1860s. Collieries in South Shields included:

Templetown (1805-1825)
St. Hilda's (1810-1940)
West Harton (1844-1969)
Boldon (1869-1982)
Marsden (1879-1968)
Whitburn (1879-1968)
Westoe (1909-1993)

Coalmining was very hazardous. Shafts could collapse at any time and naked flames carried by miners to light their way could ignite gas underground causing explosions and many deaths. Some mines even had shafts that stretched several miles out under the sea. However, the mines created jobs and migrants flocked to the North East from all over Britain and Ireland. South Shields was over-crowded and sanitation was a problem, partly solved by Cleadon Water Pumping Station (a large tower erected in 1858 above the town following an outbreak of cholera).
   The mayors of Newcastle-upon-Tyne not only controlled the flow of coal but most of the other shipping as well. Until the tiny population along the valued land could be organised by planners, grown, housed and maintained for industry, to sustain the needed industrial growth, it was feasible that ports along the Tyne were strategically temporarily prevented from being built to build ships, until the population reached its sustainability tipping point. Nevertheless, fishing boats from sparsely populated North and South Shields travelled as far as Iceland in search of fish.
   South Shield's place at the mouth of the Tyne with shifting and unpredictable sand bars and channels into the river meant ships running aground was a frequent event on the town's beaches and as a result the world's first self-righting lifeboat was designed by William Wouldhave in 1790. Wouldhave's design, however, lost to a rival design of lifeboat.
   In the 1850s, with the Tyne’s growing shipbuilding industry and the mouth of the Tyne becoming populated to sustain it, South and North Shields needed to stop the flow of sand that threatened to topple and ground ships. In 1854 the first foundations were laid of the North and South Piers. They were both completed in 1885.
   An engineering problem was encountered with managing the new piers. The sand on Littlehaven Beach was now flowing up the Tyne through the incoming tide. As a solution the Herd Groyne Pier was erected in 1882. This is now in Tate Britain in London. He also painted Keelmen Hauling Coals by Night in 1835, having himself rowed out into the Tyne at Jarrow Slake in order to do so.
   The town became famous for its maritime industries and the Marine School was founded by Dr. Thomas Winterbottom in 1837. Originally in Ocean Road, it's now part of South Tyneside College in Westoe Village and has an international reputation. It possesses the nationally unique combined public observatory and planetarium, which has provided education and entertainment for twenty thousand children a year. The old Marine College building is impressive and is now a public house. During the industrial boom years of the 19th and early 20th centuries, many notable public buildings were built across the town, reflecting its wealth. These include the new town hall, the Customs House and buildings in areas such as the town centre, Mill Dam, Lawe Top, Harton and Westoe.
   South Shields was able to elect an MP after the Great Reform Act of 1832 and was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1850 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. It became a county borough in 1889 with the passing of the Local Government Act 1888, and remained as such until 1974 when it became part of the Metropolitan Borough of South Tyneside in the (now former) county of Tyne and Wear. The Shields Gazette, founded in 1849, is the oldest provincial evening newspaper in the United Kingdom.

20th century

The impressive South Shields Town Hall of 1910 bears a copper weather vane in the form of a galleon. The town's crest (pre-1974) featured the lifeboat and the associated motto - Always Ready - which was later adopted as the motto of South Tyneside. Zeppelin airships raided the Tyne in World War I and the town's seafront amusement park was attacked in 1915. In World War II, South Shields suffered well over 200 air raid alerts and 156 people were killed. Many houses were damaged, particularly by incendiary bombs and parachute mines. One direct hit on the market place killed more than 40 people who had taken shelter in tunnels below the square. There was a memorial to them in the form of a cobbled Union Flag on the ground of the market square, however, this was removed as part of an overhaul of the town centre in the late 1990s.
   South Shields lost more seafarers than any other port in Britain during World War II.
   In 1977 the town was visited by boxer Mohammed Ali, whose wedding was blessed in the local mosque at Laygate. The visit has since been the subject of a BBC documentary. Ali visited the town after receiving an invitation from a local boys' boxing club.
   South Shields has undergone significant economic change in the light of de-industrialisation. Service industries, including tourism and retail, play an increasing role in the economic make-up of the town and indeed across the wider area.

Geography

South Shields is situated in a peninsula setting, where the River Tyne meets the North Sea. It has six miles of coastline and three miles of river frontage, dominated by the massive, functional, if not beautiful, piers at the mouth of the Tyne. These are best viewed from the Lawe Top, which also houses two replicas of cannon captured from the Russians during the Crimean War, the originals having been melted during World War Two.
   The town slopes gently from the Cleadon Hills down to the river. The Cleadon Hills are made conspicuous by the Victorian water pumping station (opened in 1860 to improve sanitation) and a now derelict windmill which can be seen from many miles away and also out at sea.
   The town has extensive beaches including sand dunes as well as dramatic sandstone cliffs with grassy areas above known as The Leas, which cover three miles of this coastline and are a National Trust protected area. Marsden Bay, with its famous Marsden Rock, is one of the largest seabird colonies in Britain.
   One of the most historic parts of the town is Westoe village, which consists of a quiet street of Georgian and Victorian houses, many being built by Victorian business leaders in the town, including those who owned mines and shipyards. This street was the setting for a number of books by the novelist Catherine Cookson. Westoe village was once a separate village about a mile from South Shields but urban sprawl has now consumed it along with the village of Harton slightly further along the same South Shields to Sunderland road.

Demography

Having been a predominantly rural economy with some small-scale shipbuilding, glass making and salt processing along the riverside, the area was populated in the main by migration at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. The majority of the people are descendants of those who migrated to the area during the Industrial Revolution from up the Tyne, with others from rural County Durham, Northumberland, Scotland and Ireland who settled there to work in coalmines and shipyards.

Yemeni community

South Shields has been home to a Yemeni community since the 1890s. The main reason for the Yemeni arrival was the supply of seamen, such as engine room firemen, to British merchant vessels. Similar communities were founded in Hull, Liverpool and Cardiff. In 1909, the first Arab Seamen's Boarding House opened in the Holborn riverside district of the town. At the time of the First World War there was a shortage of crews due to the demands of the fighting and many Yemenis were recruited to serve on British ships at the port of Aden, then under British protection. At the end of the war, the Yemeni population of South Shields had swelled to well over 3,000. Shields lost one of the largest proportions of Merchant Navy sailors. Approximately 1 in 4 of these men was of Yemeni background.
   Disputes over jobs led to riots - also called the Arab Riots - in 1919. Often incorrectly reported as 'race riots', these were in fact trades union disputes involving equal pay protests championed by Communist union activists. In fact, the Yemeni had already become a successfully integrated into the wider community. In 1930 a further dispute broke out over working practices, which the Yemeni seamen felt to be discriminatory, and led to more rioting. However, over time, attitudes to Yemenis in the town were softened and there was no significant recurrence of this violence.
   After World War II, the Yemeni population declined, partly due to migrations to other industrial areas such as Birmingham, Liverpool and Sheffield.. However, the main reason for the reduction in numbers was the end of the shipping industry and the need for sailors as coal burning ships decreased in numbers. Today, the Yemeni population of South Shields numbers around 1,000. Many Yemeni sailors married local women and became integrated with the wider community, resulting with a migrant population less distinct than in other mixed communities across the UK. The Yemeni are the first, settled Muslim community in Britain and a successful example of multi-culturalism.
   There is a mosque at Laygate, including the Yemeni School, which was visited by American boxer Mohammed Ali in 1977. He had his marriage blessed at the Al-Ahzar Mosque, the first purpose-built in the UK. This story is covered in a documentary film, The King of South Shields film website

. Throughout April and early May 2008, the BALTIC Arts Centre in Gateshead will be chronicling the Yemeni community of South Shields, including interviews with the last remaining survivors of the first Yemeni generation. The exhibition depicts the Yemeni story as an example of early successful multi-cultural integration in Britain, as well as showcasing the high-profile 1977 visit by Mohammed Ali.

Economy

The town was once famous for its shipyards, coalmines, salt pans and glassmaking. The last shipbuilder (Readhead's) closed in 1984 and the last pit (Westoe Colliery) in 1991. Today, the town relies largely on service industries, while many residents commute to work in Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside and Sunderland.
Despite a skilled local workforce, for many years South Tyneside had the highest unemployment rate in mainland Britain, but between December 2002 and June 2004 unemployment fell by 24%, so the borough climbed up to 21st in the highest unemployment table.
The Port of Tyne is one of the UK's most important and is further developing its freight and passenger activities. Manufacturing and ship repair/engineering are other significant sectors.
There is continuing extensive work to the town centre of South Shields to bring it back to its former glory, part-financed by grants from central government and the European Regional Development Fund. There is increasing private sector interest in the town and wider area.

Landmarks and tourism

As well as being the oldest and largest town in South Tyneside, South Shields is also one of the region's most popular seaside resorts, a status it has built up by marketing itself as Catherine Cookson Country. Thousands of people come to see where the famous author was born and brought up before visiting the town centre and coastal attractions. The local council and its partners intend to make further improvements and develop new additions to the seafront.
The town has much to offer both locals and visitors alike:

the reconstructed Roman Fort and excavations at Arbeia, which form part of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site

the town's museum & art gallery, including a permanent exhibition dedicated to the life and times of Catherine Cookson

the Customs House theatre and arts venue and the historic Mill Dam riverside

traditional, continental and farmers' markets and high street shopping

seafront complete with promenade, parks, fairground and amusement arcades, crazy golf, skate complex, quasar laser, miniature steam railway and boating lake and live entertainment

coastal scenery, beaches and dunes at Littlehaven, Sandhaven and Marsden Bay

the National Trust-owned Souter Lighthouse and The Leas cliff tops

Temple Park Leisure Centre, and

an extensive network of cycle paths and trails There is a good choice of restaurants, cafes, public houses and nightlife as well as hotels, guest houses and caravan parks. South Shields plays host to an annual free summer festival and each autumn the town is the seaside finish to the world-famous Great North Run.

Education

South Shields is home to South Tyneside College, one of the two leading maritime training centres in the UK, with facilities including a marine safety training centre and a simulated ship's bridge for the training of deck officers. The college is also home to the only planetarium in the region, as well as an observatory, making it a popular visitor attraction for local schools and visitors in general. The college provides a wide range of other vocational and training courses.
Local schooling is generally regarded as being very good, which is reflected in continuing improvements to school results and independent inspections.
In 2007, Brinkburn Comprehensive and King George V Comprehensive merged forming South Shields Community School; the school will be built at a cost of £19million; the school will be built on the King George V School site. The new school buildings could be open in 2009.

Regional identity

Residents of South Shields identify as "Geordie" (with a historical example found in ), a term commonly associated with all residents of Tyneside.
   It is thought that the term Geordie has its origins in the coal mining industry of the North East of England. It was latterly applied to the connected ship building industry, which came to employ descendants of earlier coalminers. The coalmining industry was once the major employer of working men in the Tyne and Wear Metro is a light rail system introduced in the 1980s, which replaced heavy rail services. The network connects South Shields to the rest of South Tyneside as well as neighbouring Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland, North Tyneside and Newcastle Airport. The platform at South Shields Metro Station is situated directly above King Street - the main shopping street in the town - and is adjacent to Keppel Street bus station. When the Metro service was introduced, the railway line via the former High Shields Railway Station at Laygate was re-routed eastwards to the then-new Chichester Metro-bus interchange. The former South Shields Railway Station was also closed but the buildings survived as an entrance to the Metro station until demolished in 1998. There are further Metro stations at Tyne Dock and Brockley Whins, while a new Metro station at Simonside has recently opened. Plans to re-open the former West Harton/Westoe mineral lines between Tyne Dock and Brockley Whins/East Boldon would allow for a direct Metro service between South Shields and Sunderland.
   There is a frequent pedestrian ferry service to North Shields on the opposite bank of the Tyne. The ferry service carries tens of thousands of commuters and pleasure trippers each year. There has been a cross-river ferry service between the two towns since 1377.
   Bus routes are operated by Stagecoach North East and Go North East and are planned to interchange with the Metro system. Buses operate direct to Washington, Durham City and the MetroCentre, as well as providing local services across South Tyneside and to Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland. There is also a direct National Express coach link to London via towns and cities in the North East, Yorkshire and East Midlands.
   South Shields is situated close to the A19/Tyne Tunnel at Jarrow while the A194(M) motorway leads direct to South Tyneside from the A1(T) trunk road/A1(M) motorway.
   The town also benefits from an extensive network of strategic and local footpaths and cycleways.

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