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[edit] History

[edit] Foundation and Roman Times

The earliest inhabitants of the area were the Brigantes, a strong and fiercely independent Briton tribe however there is no evidence to suggest they built a settlement where the present day town now stands. It was John Leland in the sixteenth 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.^[1]

A large Roman fort has been excavated in South Shields on the Lawe Top, overlooking the River Tyne it has been 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 fourth century) where it is referred to as Vide Infra. This is from the Aramaic for "place of the Arabs" (the local garrison came from the Syrian desert,) A Latinised version of this name is Arbeia, by which the fort is well known. 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 fifth century AD. 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 with the name of the emperor Alexander Severus (died 235) chiselled off. The fort was at the end of a road named Wrekendike connected to a larger road which lead between Newcastle (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 wharfs remnants remain today although time and tide have left little to see. Arbeia was abandoned by the Romans c. AD400, when Emperor Honorius informed the people of Britain that they must look to their own country's defence. One of the many peoples to take advantage of the Roman Empire's collapse were the Anglo-Saxons.

[edit] Dark Ages

Britain in the Sixth century AD 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 Humber and Deira to the South creating the powerful and influential Kingdom of Northumbria. In AD 647 King Oswy of Northumbria (Oswald's Brother)^[2] 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^[3] 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.

C. 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. The Anglian (or Danish) influence can be seen to this day; the Geordieaccent which contains words of Danish origin (e.g's: hjem - home and gan - go))with many more Anglo-Saxon pronunciations than standard English. Another interesting fact is that in South Shields, there is a greater concentration of people with blue eyes than any part of the United Kingdom.

[edit] 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 Shields, and that no shoars or quays should be built there. However, South Shields continued to be popular by sailors through out the world, because of the friendly people. 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 glass works by 1827 . Coal mining 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 watch tower 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 (half way 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.

[edit] Nineteenth Century

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775-1851. 'Shields on the River Tyne' 1823

Turner made an engraving of Shields on the River Tyne in 1823^[4]. 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^[5]. Originally in Ocean Road, it is 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 world's first self-righting lifeboat was designed and built in South Shields by William Wouldhave.

The nineteenth century also saw the creation of the Marsden Grotto, a famous public house built into the cliffs of Marsden Bay.

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 County of Tyne and Wear.

One of the most historic parts of the town, which was developed mostly around this period, is Westoe Village which consists of a quiet street of Georgian and Victorian homes, mostly built by mine and shipyard owners in the town, as well as politicians and doctors. This street was later the setting for a number of books based on the early 20th century by the novelist Catherine Cookson^[6].

Conversation Piece Created by acclaimed Spanish sculptor, Juan Munoz in 1999. The 22 bronze life size figures command a superb view of South Shields harbour and the Tyne Piers.

The Shields Gazette, founded in 1849, is the oldest provincial evening newspaper in the United Kingdom.^[7]

[edit] Twentieth Century

The impressive 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.

In 1977 the town was visited by boxer Mohammed Ali, whose wedding was blessed in the local mosque. 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.^[8]

[edit] References