Wallsend-on-Tyne

Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne.

History

Roman Wallsend

In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fort protected the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall, which did not terminate at the western wall of the fort, but continued from its south-eastern corner down to the shore of the River Tyne. As David Breeze writes, "In the early nineteenth century, as recorded by Bruce, John Buddle the Younger had often seen the Wall foundations extending far into the river when swimming there as a boy."

Pre-Conquest

The withdrawal of the Romans from the Wall immediately brought the Picts from the north and shortly afterwards the Angles, sailing from near the mouth of the River Elbe with frequent raids both from sea and from land. Ida the Saxon laid waste to the whole of the north in 547 and Wallsend doubtless suffered in the general devastation. It was not until the golden age of Northumberland under Edwin of Northumbria, and the subsequent introduction of the Christian faith by King Oswald of Northumbria (635-642) and St Aidan, that Wallsend enjoyed a time of peace and progress. This time of peace came to an abrupt end in 794 when the Danes (or Vikings) swarmed up the Tyne in great numbers. In the years before the Norman conquest there was a struggle for mastery between Danes and Angles

19th century to present

Several urban sanitary districts were formed in the parish in the late 19th century: Willington Quay, Howdon and Wallsend itself. The first two joined to form the Willington Quay urban district under the Local Government Act 1894, with the portion of the parish outside any urban sanitary district forming the parish of Willington in Tynemouth Rural District. Wallsend was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1901, and in 1910 took over Willington Quay and Willington, and also part of the parish of Longbenton.

St Peter's church ( Church of England) has four fine stained glass windows by Michael Healy of An Túr Gloine: ''St Patrick, St Peter and St Luke'' (1913); ''Our Lord with the Nativity and the Shepherds'' (1919); ''Angel of the Resurrection with St George and St Christopher'' (1921); ''Our Lord walking on water'' (1921); and a window by Ethel Rhind, also of An Túr Gloine, depicting ''The Good Shepherd, Mary of Bethany, David'' (1921).

Shipbuilding

Wallsend has a history of shipbuilding and was the home of the Wigham Richardson shipyard, which later amalgamated to form Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, probably best known for building the RMS ''Mauretania''. This express liner held the Blue Riband, for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic, for 22 years.

Other famous ships included the RMS ''Carpathia'' which rescued the survivors from the ''Titanic'' in 1912, and the icebreaker '' Krasin'' (launched as ''Sviatogor'') which rescued the Umberto Nobile expedition on Spitzbergen in 1928, when Roald Amundsen perished. The story is retold in the movie '' The Red Tent'', starring Sean Connery and Peter Finch.

Charles Parsons launched his revolutionary ''Turbinia'' here in 1894, thus not only revolutionising the navies of the world, but also, through the large-scale production of affordable electricity, making a significant contribution to the modern age. He features in a BBC film called ''The Inventor of the Twentieth Century''.

Russian novelist Yevgeny Zamyatin worked at Swan Hunter in 1916–17, and used it as background for his great anti-utopian work ''We'' which was a major influence on George Orwell's ''Nineteen Eighty-Four''.

World War II ships built here include and which took part in the sinking of the '' Bismarck''. Other ships built there include the new HMS ''Ark Royal'' in the 1980s.

The shipyard closed in 2007. The musical '' The Last Ship'' by Sting is set in the shipyard. The former Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company Shipyard continues to operate, constructing offshore oil rigs and as a TV studio: productions from there include the hit ITV drama ''Vera'' starring Brenda Blethyn and ''Inspector George Gently'' starring Martin Shaw.

Coal mining

Much of Wallsend's early industry was driven by coal mining. The Wallsend Colliery consisted of seven pits which were active between 1778 and 1935. In the 1820s the pits became incorporated as Russell's Colliery, which then became the Wallsend and Hebburn Coal Company Ltd. By 1924 the colliery employed 2,183 people. Its most prominent manager was mining and railway engineer John Buddle who helped develop the Davy Lamp