The Wearmouth Dock Company was formed in 1832 by the 7th Baronet, to export coal from Potato Garth on the north bank of the Wear. The adjacent Ham Sands - previously named Pilot Point - is known today as Sand Point. The first Wearmouth (North) Dock Bill, to a design by the engineer Sir John Rennie was turned down by Parliament in 1832. Engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel had assisted his father Marc in the construction of the 1827 Thames Tunnel at Rotherhithe [where five major breaches by the river delayed its completion for 15 years], and was invited in 1833 to submit plans for the projected Wearmouth Dock.
For an estimated expenditure of £22,000 Brunel's initial plan proposed the construction of a suspension bridge across the Wear, similar in design to his 1831 Clifton Bridge over the Avon. The bridge would carry East Durham coal from the Keelman's Lane area of Deptford, across the river to the Sheepfolds on the north bank. A rail line to be built on the course of today's Dame Dorothy Street would then convey coal to the new dock. Fears by anxious Dock Company shareholders that Durham coalowners would use the route then circumvent the North Dock, to access more favourable facilities on the Tyne, led to the plan's abandonment. During the railway's preliminary planning stages, another submission had been to construct a line west from the North Dock to the planned Wearmouth Station in Portobello Lane. This would have cut through green-fields on an arc roughly following today's Selbourne Street, bringing it past the end of Ravensworth Terrace, across Fulwell Lane and Portobello Lane, there to enter the proposed Wearmouth goods yard. An alternative survey suggested laying the branch from the dock on a northern heading, crossing Roker Lane (Roker Baths Road) and the as yet unbuilt Sidecliffe Road on the level. Sea Lane (Sea Road) was to be crossed east of the Blue Bell, there to advance through Cleadon, where the line would connect with the Brandling Junction Railway (BJR) at Harton Junction. None of these options were deemed acceptable. Brunel submitted a further proposal at an estimated cost of £30,000. Bisecting Fulwell Farm, a branch line from the North Dock would link up with the BJR by means of a rail junction at Mill Lane, Fulwell, and this proposal was adopted in 1834.
This time an Act of Parliament was not sought, instead a Royal Charter was granted. Trustees included George Cooper Abbs and the Reverend Benjamin Kennicott, who had the living at St Peter's. On February 14th 1835 the Dowager Lady Williamson laid the foundation stone for the dock's inner basin, which covered what would prove to be an inadequate and uneconomical nine acres. Engineer for the project was Thomas Elliot Harrison (1808-1888), an exceptional bridge designer and railway builder, who had planned and built the 1834 Stanhope & Tyne Railway, and who on the formation of the North Eastern Railway in 1853, would be appointed Engineer-in-Chief. London-born, he had come to the Wear with his father, who had opened a shipyard on the North Sands, and after living at Monkwearmouth Grange became a neighbour of the Williamsons at Whitburn. In 1879 he was to design the world's biggest single-arch railway bridge, spanning the Wear parallel to Wearmouth Bridge, and enabling the railway to extend from Monkwearmouth directly into Sunderland's town centre.
When excavations for the North Dock began, spoil was taken to the Roker-front area, adjacent to the site of the future Roker Hotel (where the limestone cliffs formed a sheer drop. Here the extracted materials were dumped, forming the present grassy gradient from road level down to sea level. The site of the dock had earlier been reclaimed from the river, and it is intriguing to note that due to the increased incidence of siltage following the construction of the 1786 variant of the North Pier, the locale had developed into a "sandy beach with grass and wild flowers". Natural reclamation had been assisted by the dumping there of ballast, brought from the North Quay on a narrow gauge horse-drawn railway which terminated near the foot of the later Dock Street East close to Ballast Lane - now Sand Point Road. During the early 19th century, random dumping of ballast on a non-designated site in the Dame Dorothy Street area overwhelmed the local workhouse resulting in its eventual demolition. The cleared site became Bloomfield Street.
Following a rowdy political meeting on 27th September 1832 Sir Hedworth Williamson, seconded by Mr. John Fawcett, travelled to Garmondsway Moor at Sedgefield where at noon near the Hare & Hounds, he met Mr.Thomas Braddyll, Chairman of the Hetton Coal Company for a duel. Each party fired twice without hitting their adversary. At the bequest of Mr. Fawcett, Sir Hedworth said, "I am sorry to have used a term which has been offensive to Mr. Braddyll's feelings, and which has been received in a sense in which I never intended". The affair of honour now over, both men shook hands and left the site. In the 1832 general election Williamson and Hedworth Lambton (Liberals) were elected, while Tory opponent Braddyll was defeated. For other political reasons, in the early 19th century, the 1st Earl of Durham - John George Lambton aka Radical Jack, fought a duel with Wentworth Beaumont on Bamburgh sands. Neither party was injured.
On November 1st 1837, with a capacity for fifty ships, the North Dock officially opened to traffic, the first ship to enter being local sail maker Thomas Speeding's 200-ton Iona, built by Robert Thompson at the former Melvin Brothers yard at Clayton Haugh near Washington Staithes. Speeding, an unassuming Methodist lay-preacher and local councillor, had a chandlery and sailmaking business on the North Quay , and owned several small collier brigs. Guided from the North Quay by the steam-driven paddle tug Good Intent, the Iona passed into the dock through the hand-winch operated gates. [Proving unusable in heavy weather, the gates were removed in the 1940's]. Among those on board were Lady Williamson, Sir Hedworth Williamson his father and several shareholders including Bryan Abbs, Cooper Abbs, James Allison, William Allison, Peter Austin, Edward Backhouse, David Barclay, Thomas Brunton, William Byers, John Fawcett, Lord Hardwicke, William Peareth, Thomas Speeding, John Storey, and Captain John Rutherford of Whitburn Street. [During 1837, when Bishopwearmouth and Monkwearmouth were united as the Borough of Sunderland, Cooper Abbs and James Allison were Monkwearmouth Shore Ward's first Aldermen, while Andrew White became the town's first Mayor].
Rumours were rife that Lady Williamson was to dance the sailor's hornpipe on a raft in the dock, and the crowd were said to be disappointed when this did not transpire. On the dockside was the 1835 office building featuring a semi-circular west-end gable, designed by here shown Chirton born architect John Dobson (1787-1864). [Dobson's accomplishments included over 50 churches and 105 country houses, though his best known work was Newcastle Central Station]. The dock building was referred to by locals as the Roundhouse, a name it carried for its 145-year existence. Hundreds of spectators cheered, a band played and cannon were fired as the official party disembarked for the offices, there to attend a dinner followed by a ball at the Wheat Sheaf Hotel. To help finance the construction of the North Dock, Sir Hedworth mortgaged his Whitburn estate for £20,000. The dock's eventual cost was £120,000, four times Brunel's estimate, which severely challenged Williamson's finances and led to the sale of his London home, horses and carriage. [Running over budget was a familiar characteristic of Brunel's work, an example being the Clifton Bridge over the Avon, which had been estimated at £264,000, but in due course cost £614,000]. The North Dock's rail connection to the BJR ran from Harbour View through Roker Farm to Mill Lane, Fulwell and was completed by 1839. Prior to the official opening of the branch, the first commercial tonnage was transported to the staithes on June 16th. Sixty-one chaldron waggons from the South Beaumont Colliery of Williamson's father-in-law Lord Ravensworth, were loaded aboard the collier Jane bound for the Thames. The staithes also conveyed lime, mortar and fertiliser, though principal shipments were coal, most of which went to Scotland. Other vessels which visited the dock regularly were those of Goodchild's, who also had the Pallion limekilns and had been building ships since c.1670.
Prior to the dock's construction the Williamsons had grazed their horses in the area and bull baiting had taken place. A small ravine named Kits Peth had led from the reclaimed land near Nova Scotia, to the higher ground which became Millum Terrace North. Here smugglers brought ashore tea, lace, silks, tobacco, brandy and other contraband. A fresh-water spring ran down the Peth and into the river. Today the stream and Tufa - discovered in 1992 - have been incorporated as a feature within the Marine Activities Centre, from where it is culverted into the dock.
Brian Dodds Aspects of Monkwearmouth
For an estimated expenditure of £22,000 Brunel's initial plan proposed the construction of a suspension bridge across the Wear, similar in design to his 1831 Clifton Bridge over the Avon. The bridge would carry East Durham coal from the Keelman's Lane area of Deptford, across the river to the Sheepfolds on the north bank. A rail line to be built on the course of today's Dame Dorothy Street would then convey coal to the new dock. Fears by anxious Dock Company shareholders that Durham coalowners would use the route then circumvent the North Dock, to access more favourable facilities on the Tyne, led to the plan's abandonment. During the railway's preliminary planning stages, another submission had been to construct a line west from the North Dock to the planned Wearmouth Station in Portobello Lane. This would have cut through green-fields on an arc roughly following today's Selbourne Street, bringing it past the end of Ravensworth Terrace, across Fulwell Lane and Portobello Lane, there to enter the proposed Wearmouth goods yard. An alternative survey suggested laying the branch from the dock on a northern heading, crossing Roker Lane (Roker Baths Road) and the as yet unbuilt Sidecliffe Road on the level. Sea Lane (Sea Road) was to be crossed east of the Blue Bell, there to advance through Cleadon, where the line would connect with the Brandling Junction Railway (BJR) at Harton Junction. None of these options were deemed acceptable. Brunel submitted a further proposal at an estimated cost of £30,000. Bisecting Fulwell Farm, a branch line from the North Dock would link up with the BJR by means of a rail junction at Mill Lane, Fulwell, and this proposal was adopted in 1834.
This time an Act of Parliament was not sought, instead a Royal Charter was granted. Trustees included George Cooper Abbs and the Reverend Benjamin Kennicott, who had the living at St Peter's. On February 14th 1835 the Dowager Lady Williamson laid the foundation stone for the dock's inner basin, which covered what would prove to be an inadequate and uneconomical nine acres. Engineer for the project was Thomas Elliot Harrison (1808-1888), an exceptional bridge designer and railway builder, who had planned and built the 1834 Stanhope & Tyne Railway, and who on the formation of the North Eastern Railway in 1853, would be appointed Engineer-in-Chief. London-born, he had come to the Wear with his father, who had opened a shipyard on the North Sands, and after living at Monkwearmouth Grange became a neighbour of the Williamsons at Whitburn. In 1879 he was to design the world's biggest single-arch railway bridge, spanning the Wear parallel to Wearmouth Bridge, and enabling the railway to extend from Monkwearmouth directly into Sunderland's town centre.
When excavations for the North Dock began, spoil was taken to the Roker-front area, adjacent to the site of the future Roker Hotel (where the limestone cliffs formed a sheer drop. Here the extracted materials were dumped, forming the present grassy gradient from road level down to sea level. The site of the dock had earlier been reclaimed from the river, and it is intriguing to note that due to the increased incidence of siltage following the construction of the 1786 variant of the North Pier, the locale had developed into a "sandy beach with grass and wild flowers". Natural reclamation had been assisted by the dumping there of ballast, brought from the North Quay on a narrow gauge horse-drawn railway which terminated near the foot of the later Dock Street East close to Ballast Lane - now Sand Point Road. During the early 19th century, random dumping of ballast on a non-designated site in the Dame Dorothy Street area overwhelmed the local workhouse resulting in its eventual demolition. The cleared site became Bloomfield Street.
Following a rowdy political meeting on 27th September 1832 Sir Hedworth Williamson, seconded by Mr. John Fawcett, travelled to Garmondsway Moor at Sedgefield where at noon near the Hare & Hounds, he met Mr.Thomas Braddyll, Chairman of the Hetton Coal Company for a duel. Each party fired twice without hitting their adversary. At the bequest of Mr. Fawcett, Sir Hedworth said, "I am sorry to have used a term which has been offensive to Mr. Braddyll's feelings, and which has been received in a sense in which I never intended". The affair of honour now over, both men shook hands and left the site. In the 1832 general election Williamson and Hedworth Lambton (Liberals) were elected, while Tory opponent Braddyll was defeated. For other political reasons, in the early 19th century, the 1st Earl of Durham - John George Lambton aka Radical Jack, fought a duel with Wentworth Beaumont on Bamburgh sands. Neither party was injured.
On November 1st 1837, with a capacity for fifty ships, the North Dock officially opened to traffic, the first ship to enter being local sail maker Thomas Speeding's 200-ton Iona, built by Robert Thompson at the former Melvin Brothers yard at Clayton Haugh near Washington Staithes. Speeding, an unassuming Methodist lay-preacher and local councillor, had a chandlery and sailmaking business on the North Quay , and owned several small collier brigs. Guided from the North Quay by the steam-driven paddle tug Good Intent, the Iona passed into the dock through the hand-winch operated gates. [Proving unusable in heavy weather, the gates were removed in the 1940's]. Among those on board were Lady Williamson, Sir Hedworth Williamson his father and several shareholders including Bryan Abbs, Cooper Abbs, James Allison, William Allison, Peter Austin, Edward Backhouse, David Barclay, Thomas Brunton, William Byers, John Fawcett, Lord Hardwicke, William Peareth, Thomas Speeding, John Storey, and Captain John Rutherford of Whitburn Street. [During 1837, when Bishopwearmouth and Monkwearmouth were united as the Borough of Sunderland, Cooper Abbs and James Allison were Monkwearmouth Shore Ward's first Aldermen, while Andrew White became the town's first Mayor].
Rumours were rife that Lady Williamson was to dance the sailor's hornpipe on a raft in the dock, and the crowd were said to be disappointed when this did not transpire. On the dockside was the 1835 office building featuring a semi-circular west-end gable, designed by here shown Chirton born architect John Dobson (1787-1864). [Dobson's accomplishments included over 50 churches and 105 country houses, though his best known work was Newcastle Central Station]. The dock building was referred to by locals as the Roundhouse, a name it carried for its 145-year existence. Hundreds of spectators cheered, a band played and cannon were fired as the official party disembarked for the offices, there to attend a dinner followed by a ball at the Wheat Sheaf Hotel. To help finance the construction of the North Dock, Sir Hedworth mortgaged his Whitburn estate for £20,000. The dock's eventual cost was £120,000, four times Brunel's estimate, which severely challenged Williamson's finances and led to the sale of his London home, horses and carriage. [Running over budget was a familiar characteristic of Brunel's work, an example being the Clifton Bridge over the Avon, which had been estimated at £264,000, but in due course cost £614,000]. The North Dock's rail connection to the BJR ran from Harbour View through Roker Farm to Mill Lane, Fulwell and was completed by 1839. Prior to the official opening of the branch, the first commercial tonnage was transported to the staithes on June 16th. Sixty-one chaldron waggons from the South Beaumont Colliery of Williamson's father-in-law Lord Ravensworth, were loaded aboard the collier Jane bound for the Thames. The staithes also conveyed lime, mortar and fertiliser, though principal shipments were coal, most of which went to Scotland. Other vessels which visited the dock regularly were those of Goodchild's, who also had the Pallion limekilns and had been building ships since c.1670.
Prior to the dock's construction the Williamsons had grazed their horses in the area and bull baiting had taken place. A small ravine named Kits Peth had led from the reclaimed land near Nova Scotia, to the higher ground which became Millum Terrace North. Here smugglers brought ashore tea, lace, silks, tobacco, brandy and other contraband. A fresh-water spring ran down the Peth and into the river. Today the stream and Tufa - discovered in 1992 - have been incorporated as a feature within the Marine Activities Centre, from where it is culverted into the dock.
Brian Dodds Aspects of Monkwearmouth
