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Shields (South) in Durham County England History and GeographySHIELDS (SOUTH), a sea-port, and market town, partly in the chapelry of SOUTH SHIELDS, and partly in that of WESTOE, parish of JARROW, eastern division of CHESTER ward, county palatine of DURHAM, 20 miles (N.N.E.) from Durham, and 278 (N.N.W.) from London; the township of South Shields contains 8885 inhabitants, and the present population of the town is supposed to exceed 17,000. Although this town has only attained its present size and importance in very recent times, its origin appears to lay claim to considerable antiquity; many remains of the Romans, consisting of altars, an hypocaust, coins, and other memorials, discovered on Lawe hill, near the town, indicating that it was one of the stations occupied by that people, though the name by which it was then known has not been ascertained. The military road, called the 'Wreken Dyke,' terminated here, and an elevated pavement at the western end of the town appears to be a Roman work. It is situated on the southern bank of the Tyne, at its junction with the German Ocean, nearly opposite to North Shields: the old part of the town consists principally of a long, narrow, and inconvenient street, running along the shore of the river, but the higher and more modern part of it comprises many spacious and well-built houses: it is lighted with gas, supplied by works completed in 1824, at an expense of £4000. In the large square near the centre of the town is the town hall, erected, about 1768, by the Dean and Chapter of Durham, in which the petty sessions for this part of the eastern division of Chester ward are held, on the second and fourth Wednesdays in each month; and a court leet and court baron by the Dean and Chapter, as lords of the manor, for making presentments, and for the recovery of small debts: it is also used as an exchange by the merchants, and as a public news-room; the under part is composed of a colonnade, in which the market for butter, eggs, and poultry, is held. A subscription library was established in 1803, and 'a Literary, Scientific, and Mechanics' Institution' in 1825; the latter, in addition to its library, possesses apparatus for mechanical and scientific experiments, and has very much contributed to increase a desire for knowledge in its neighbourhood. The theatre, erected in 1791, on the Bank Top, is a neat building. This town owes much of its present importance to the salt trade, which was established about 1499; and during the reigns of Elizabeth, James, and Charles I., it attracted many strangers, who settled here. When in its most flourishing state, in 1696, it employed nearly one hundred and fifty salt-pans, and many hundred individuals; but it has so much declined, that the number of pans does not now exceed five, producing about six tons of salt weekly. It has, however, been succeeded by other branches of business, from which the town derives equal benefit, the principal being the coal trade: in addition to the coal brought down the river in keels and shipped here, two mines are worked in the immediate neighbourhood; connected with them are staiths on the banks of the river, for facilitating the loading of vessels, by means of which a cargo is frequently shipped in one tide. The number of vessels belonging to the port in 1827 was two hundred and fifty-nine, though within the last century the number was only four or five: the majority of them are employed as colliers, and a few in the American, Baltic, and Indian trades. Here are thirteen dry docks, which will contain nineteen large vessels, and extensive yards for ship-building are attached to each dock; during the late war, when the trade of the port was most flourishing, thirty vessels have been launched in a year; but the number is now very far short of this. There are nine glass-houses in the neighbourhood, in which the different kinds of crown and flint glass, and glass bottles, are made, and some mills for grinding it; the duty paid in one year, during the war, on this branch of manufacture amounted to £89,334. There are also three breweries, and seven rope-walks, in some of which patent cordage is made. The market is on Wednesday; and fairs, granted by charter of Bishop Trevor, in 1770, are held on June 24th and September 1st, but they are indifferently attended. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry and diocese of Durham, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The chapel, dedicated to St. Hilda, is of great antiquity, although very little remains of the original edifice, it having been, with the exception of the old tower, modernised and nearly rebuilt in 1810, at an expense of nearly £5000; the altar is placed in a circular recess, ornamented with three transparent paintings of scriptural subjects: a lectureship has been established, with an allowance of about £200 per annum, raised by subscription among the inhabitants, who appoint the lecturer. A chapel of ease was erected in 1818, in that part of the town which is in the township of Wesoe, at an expense of about £2400, raised by subscription, towards which, £1000 was given by the Dean and Chapter of Durham, and £500 by the trustees of Lord Crewe: it contains one thousand two hundred sittings, seven hundred of which are free. The ground-floor of the building is used for a school, which was established at the same time, and in which upwards of three hundred children of both sexes are instructed on the National system. There are two places of worship each belonging to the Particular Baptists, Wesleyan Methodists, and Presbyterians, and one each to Independents, Methodists of the New Connexion, and Primitive Methodists, and the United Secession Church: nearly all of which have Sunday schools attached. A charity school was founded, in 1772, by subscriptions amounting to upwards of £1400, which, by the aid of subsequent liberal donations, affords instruction to about one hundred and twenty children: it is under the superintendence of five trustees, elected annually, one of whom is always the minister for the time being. The dispensary, established in 1821, has been productive of great benefit, having afforded relief to nearly three thousand poor persons: there are several other benevolent and benefit societies established in the town. The invention of the life-boat originated with a few benevolent individuals of the town, who assisted Mr. Greathead to construct one, which was found effectual for its purpose, and to whom parliament voted a reward of £1200. To Mr. Marshall, another native, the seamen of the eastern coast are indebted for the construction of the floating-light off Newarp Sand, on the coast of Norfolk. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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