THE SUNDERLAND
SITE - PAGE
013
THE HARBOUR AND DOCKS OF
SUNDERLAND
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The Harbour and Docks of Sunderland, The South Pier Lighthouse, page bottom (model sailing ship). To search for specific text on this page, just press 'CTRL + F' & then enter your search term. A general site search facility is here. THE HARBOUR AND DOCKS OF SUNDERLAND The following text has been kindly written for the site by Len Charlton.
As far back as 1699, a petition had been sent to Charles II requesting that the river be cleaned up & controlled. Permission was granted to build piers & lighthouses at the harbour entrance 'and cleanse the river', following which, in 1717, the River Wear Commissioners were appointed to remove the old obstacles and to design the breakwaters & piers required for a viable port.
One can imagine the anger of many old river-men at what they would see as state interference with their 'rights', but action was certainly needed as the river was barely navigable.
Early attempts to form a breakwater on the north bank had utilised old
keelboats sunk against pilings while on the south bank a stone pier 333 yards
long
was in use by 1746. This pier reached 1,900 ft. in 1765 before it was badly damaged
by tidal swells & a new stronger pier was planned by John Smeaton. In the
1780s this new south pier was started adjacent to the old one but it caused sand to be
carried into the river through the temporary north breakwater & in 1786 plans
for a new north bank pier of timber framing filled & surfaced with stone were
approved - to extend 1,500 ft. into the sea.
The
pier had finally reached 1,770 ft. but much of the early work was of poor standard
& rebuilding the old timber structure continued for ten years.
The early plans for developing the harbour resulted in some Durham
businessmen seeking permission to develop their own port. This was granted in
Parliament by the 1759 Wear Act & John Smeaton was appointed to present
plans which proposed to raise the level of the Wear at Durham by using 12 locks
down to Sunderland as well as making several diversions. The sheer expense of
this task coupled with a restriction on ship sizes were soon seen to make the
idea impractical and it was dropped. Meanwhile, in Sunderland, the harbour
developments were being driven by a continual & rapidly increasing demand for
port facilities which the local landowners and industrialists were prepared to
finance in order to enhance their own family interests. The families engaged in
many political & financial battles to this end & in particular the
Londonderry, Lambton & Williamson families rich in their own right were
investing heavily in coal & frequently at loggerheads over land rights.
Further opposition was based on the argument that Brunel's bridge plus a proposed railway line between Shields & Monkwearmouth would allow the best of Sunderland's coals to be taken to the Tyne. In fact John Clayton, then the very active Town Clerk of Newcastle, claimed 'the pre-eminence of the Tyne in the coal trade'. There was even some suggestion at one stage of deviating the Wear through a canal to the Tyne at Redheigh (Gateshead), which suggestion caused a great uproar in Sunderland. Sir Hedworth however was determined to press ahead before any docks were opened on the south bank. He had decided to build 'North Dock' on undeveloped land from which the north pier extended. It was just to the east of Potato Garth (image at left below) part of 'North Sands' which became uncovered at low tide. Closer to the Monkwearmouth shore where the sands were higher, ships had been broken-up & built for many years & it was a great playground for children. William Pile's shipyard (image at right below) was already well established there when the 'North Dock' opened in 1837 alongside his works.
The disputed Brunel railway & bridge were never built but a line was laid from the dock to Brandling Junction (near Gateshead). Brunel finished his work in 1839 when this line was completed.
On the south bank the coal staiths, a mile upriver alongside the new road bridge, were rapidly becoming overloaded & this plus the rapidly increasing general trade made very obvious the need for large docking facilities on this side of the river. Unfortunately, near to the river entrance, the Old Town packed the bank running eastwards to the Barracks and it seemed that the docks would have to be built on the adjacent sands extending to the low tide line. Many suggestions were put forward including an extremely ambitious plan first proposed by Joseph Cook, a coal dealer, & presented with a contour map prepared by Thomas Robson and Sons (Surveyors and Printers) in 1843 (map next). This plan closed the existing river mouth & diverted the river southwards to a new sea entrance. Lock gates were to be built across the river near the new entrance & also upriver at the old ferry landings. This would effectively enclose over 1/2 a mile of river & change this stretch into one high-level dock. The plan suggested walling off & flooding part of the old town to increase the river's width & even showed a canal bypassing the enclosed area.
Len Charlton
believes that the Joseph Cook/Thomas Robson 1843 map above may be difficult to
follow at first sight, but has coded it in red to make it easier for us to
understand. a The proposed lock gates at Wearmouth
ferry, b The proposed lock gates on the diverted river,
which would then flow c-b-d, to
d the proposed new river access to the North Sea. c-c-c is
the original river passage shown closed with fill, e a walled off area of the old town, part of
the relocated river after being flooded, f a possible canal from the
new river mouth to
bypass the closed river section. Higher ground is shaded. The river at
c-b is where South Docks were
later built. A drastic plan which indeed may well have been catastrophic for
'Old Sunderland'.
The first Hudson Dock was opened with much ceremony by Prince Albert in 1850 & at the same time the rail links from collieries to the staiths at Wearmouth bridge were branched to run coals round the west of Sunderland through Hendon to the new dock. Within five years the original dock was extended southwards in order to cope with the increasing trade. After Lord Londonderry opened a new railway line from Seaham to transfer excess coal from Seaham Harbour to Sunderland, there were some 20 collieries shipping coals from the Hudson Dock using no less than 13 staiths on the west side. Bulk cargo handling was into the warehouse facilities on the east side. The new docks were soon so busy with river traffic entering through the river basin locks that in 1856 a direct sea access channel was cut through the south east corner of the extended docks. This had to be gated & another lock & bridge was later (1880) built to raise or lower the ships to sea level, where a small harbour protected by two piers had been excavated. This harbour was in effect another tidal basin about a mile south of the river mouth. In 1871, 'Bartrams' shipyard moved there from Hylton & was able to claim to be the only firm launching ships directly into the North Sea. The final docks development was deferred until 1868 when a further extension southwards called the Hendon Dock was opened also with direct gated sea access to the small harbour. The whole system from the Wear entrance to the Southern Hendon dock was massively engineered with the hydraulic system operating the many locks between the river & docks and the other two sea passages. From the river at the northern end ships would collect in the Tidal Basin and then enter through lock gates into the Half-Tide Basin which would be filled before the next gates were opened for them to enter the higher level docks. There were also two dry docks connected to the river basins. Entering directly from the sea, ships would go into the small harbour south of the river & then through locks to either the Hudson or Hendon Docks. The Hudson and Hendon docks together covered 43 acres & it is difficult to see how Hedworth Williamson's plans for the Monkwearmouth dock could have competed, even if he had succeeded in his original aim of a rail bridge. His grandiose plans had failed & while an 1856 map shows a rail link to North Dock ending in 4 staiths, most of the rail sidings ran to a nearby creosoting works. However he had led the way & it seems unfair that the 6 acre North Dock became ridiculed as 'Sir Hedworth's Bath Tub'. But such is life. Public opinion can at times be most cruel. Next, a remarkable c.1850 drawing gives a birds eye view of the east end of Sunderland with South Dock stretching from the centre to the right edge of the image. The docks, reclaimed from the sea & sited against the barracks square & town moor, are packed with shipping. North Dock (at top left) has indeed been dwarfed.
River trade was flourishing but by the late 1800s the two piers at the river mouth were some 100 years old & storms & heavy river traffic had caused deterioration.
Above is an 1883 print of the entrance to Sunderland Harbour, as published in 'The Graphic' on Feb. 3, 1883. Click the image should you wish to see it in a giant size. At left above, a pictorial celebration drawing gives a good impression of South Docks. The river entrance past the new pier is at right while the southern entrances though the small harbour & locks are at left. And at left below is a postcard image of the new north pier, with the jib crane in place out near the lighthouse. Wiliam Donaldson has kindly advised that the 'Co-Curate' website shows another view of Goliath, a 'Titan' crane used in the construction of the Roker Pier. The particular web page is here - it contains interesting details about the pier & its construction. A webmaster adjusted verson of the 'Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums' image is next. I note that a 'Co-Curate' page with many images of the Roker Pier is available here.
This damaging wave motion inside the harbour was being affected by the restricted opening between the two new piers. Work on the new south pier was stopped short at 2,700 ft. In the end, the pier was finished with an unmanned column & fixed light and the planned lighthouse was never built. It seems strange that the new piers were causing damage to the old piers they were designed to protect. The new north pier had dramatically altered the seafront at Roker. The pier became a great attraction as it was usually open to walk along to the lighthouse which sat on a raised circular plinth (19). As the new pier started some 1,000 ft. north of the old pier, a popular section of Roker beach now lay between them & over the years many ships trying to enter the river went round the wrong side of the old pier & finished up on this beach. River debris was trapped by the new piers which soon made the beach dirty & unpopular for swimming although the water was considerably warmer than it was outside the harbour. Directly across the river mouth, the old and new south piers were part of the scene but as they started from South Docks they were not open to the public without permit.
The river and harbour were very busy in the war years but in the 1950s the industrial scene started to change. Cheap oil was threatening coal and super tankers were being built. Huge container ships & cranes were replacing manual cargo handling. Sunderland as a port was soon too small to compete with the new demands & the decline started. The end really came with the closure of the pits - by 1986 coal exports had stopped completely. The last ship was built in 1988 & Sunderland was soon in the throes of massive unemployment & depression. At first work was available repairing WW2 bomb damage & then the demolition of unused industrial property kept the town busy but it was not until the 1990s that a new town became a city & started to show new life. 'North Dock' remains as a pleasure marina & 'South Dock' is still used although the two sea outlets on the south-east side are closed off & built over. Traffic can only enter from the river but the gates from the basins to the docks have been retained to maintain dock water levels. The staiths have gone as have most of the dock warehouses & buildings but the docks retain some industry including a new oil terminal still standing firm where 170 years ago was the North Sea. Len Charlton Len, we thank you for the above article! THE SOUTH PIER LIGHTHOUSE IN THE EARLY 1840s What follows is a composite image of two renditions of the same print.
Drawn by G. Balmer & engraved
by W. Finden. I cannot tell you which
coloration best presents the actual prints which originate, I understand (left) in Finden's 'Ports, Harbours & Watering Places of Great
Britain' & (right) Finden's 'Ports, Harbours,
Watering-Places & Coast Scenery of Great Britain by William Beattie, M. D.
illustrated in a series of views taken on the spot and expressly for
the work by W. H. Bartlett', both published by James S. Virtue Co. of London in 1840 or 1842. The prints
are entitled 'SUNDERLAND' and the following words are under the bottom
of the print:
'(THE LIGHTHOUSE ON THE SOUTH PIER)'.
The image at left comes from an offering by 'martin2001' of Virginia, U.S.A. The other comes from an expired offering of 'antiqueportrait' of Dorset, U.K. Both listing images are truly giant, & what I provide below are, in comparison, just large thumbnails. Both vendors must have devoted a lot of time to the creating their listings.
LAYING THE FOUNDATION-STONE OF SUNDERLAND DOCKS. Len Charlton referred extensively above to the first Hudson Dock which was opened with much ceremony by Prince Albert in 1850. The foundation stone for such dock was laid on Feb. 4, 1848. The occasion was referenced in the Feb. 12, 1848 edition of Illustrated London News ('ILN'). With an illustration of George Hudson laying such stone (below) & with the following words. Words which were at times difficult to read - the following is therefore the webmaster's 'best efforts' transcription of the available ILN text.
SOUTH DOCKS IN 1901
TO END THE PAGE An image which does not relate to Len Charlton's article above & almost certainly does not relate to Sunderland either - but surely merits inclusion somewhere on site. The 'A Little Ship' image pleases me each time I look at it & may well please you also. The postcard was an eBay item, published by Lilywhite, which did not sell, for GBP 4.99, on Feb. 19, 2012. By vendor cobwebpostcards. A fine image indeed, slightly modified for better presentation on this page.
May I suggest that you navigate the site via the
index on page 001.
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