Wallsend () is a town in

North Tyneside North Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. It forms part of the greater Tyneside conurbation. North Tyneside Council is headquartered at Cobalt Park, Wallsend. North Tyneside is bordered by Ne ...

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

, England, at the eastern end of

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

History

Roman Wallsend

In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fort protected the eastern end of

, 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 The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...

. 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 The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Ge ...

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 Edwin (; c. 586 – 12 October 632/633), also known as Eadwine or Æduinus, was the King of Deira and Bernicia – which later became known as Northumbria – from around 616 until his death. He was the second monarch to rule bo ...

, and the subsequent introduction of the Christian faith by King

Oswald of Northumbria Oswald (; c 604 – 5 August 641/642Bede gives the year of Oswald's death as 642. However there is some question of whether what Bede considered 642 is the same as what would now be considered 642. R. L. Poole (''Studies in Chronology and H ...

(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 Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

) swarmed up the Tyne in great numbers. In the years before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

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 Willington Quay is an area in the borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear in northern England. It is on the north bank of the River Tyne, facing Jarrow, and between Wallsend and North Shields. It is served by the Howdon Metro station in Howdo ...

, Howdon and Wallsend itself. The first two joined to form the Willington Quay urban district under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 ( 56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The act followed the reforms carried out at county leve ...

, 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 A municipal borough was a type of local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of ...

in 1901, and in 1910 took over Willington Quay and Willington, and also part of the parish of

Longbenton Longbenton is a district of North Tyneside, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is largely occupied by an extensive estate originally built as municipal housing by Newcastle City Council in the 1930s and extended in the 1950s. It is ser ...

St Peter's Church, Wallsend The Church of St Peter is a Church of England Listed building, Grade II* listed church located on the east side of Wallsend, North Tyneside. It was constructed to replace Holy Cross Church, which had been built c. 1150 but had fallen into disrep ...

(

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

) has four fine stained glass windows by Michael Healy of

An Túr Gloine An Túr Gloine (; Irish for "The Glass Tower") was a cooperative studio for stained glass and '' opus sectile'' artists from 1903 until 1944, based in Dublin, Ireland. History An Túr Gloine was conceived of in late 1901 and established Januar ...

: ''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 Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

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 The Blue Riband () is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest Velocity, average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until ...

, for the fastest crossing of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, 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 Umberto Nobile (; 21 January 1885 – 30 July 1978) was an Italian aviator, aeronautical engineer and Arctic explorer. Nobile was a developer and promoter of semi-rigid airships in the Aviation between the World Wars, years between the two Worl ...

expedition on

Spitzbergen Svalbard ( , ), previously known as Spitsbergen or Spitzbergen, is a Norwegian archipelago that lies at the convergence of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean. North of mainland Europe, it lies about midway between the northern coast o ...

in 1928, when

Roald Amundsen Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen (, ; ; 16 July 1872 – ) was a Norwegians, Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in Borge, Østfold, Norway, Am ...

perished. The story is retold in the movie '' The Red Tent'', starring

Sean Connery Sir Thomas Sean Connery (25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to Portrayal of James Bond in film, portray the fictional British secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in motion pic ...

and Peter Finch. Charles Parsons launched his revolutionary ''

Turbinia ''Turbinia'' is the first steam turbine-powered steamship. Built as an experimental vessel in 1894, and easily the fastest ship in the world at that time, ''Turbinia'' was demonstrated dramatically at the Fleet review (Commonwealth realms), Sp ...

'' 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 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

film called ''The Inventor of the Twentieth Century''. Wallsend Ship Repair

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 Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

''. 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 Brenda Blethyn ( Bottle; born 20 February 1946) is an English actress. Known for her character work and versatility, she is the recipient of various accolades, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and a Cannes Film Festival Award, as well as n ...

and ''

Inspector George Gently ''Inspector George Gently'' (also known as ''George Gently'' for the pilot and first series) is a British crime drama television series produced by Company Pictures for BBC One, set in the 1960s and loosely based on some of the Inspector 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 The Davy lamp is a safety lamp used in flammable atmospheres, invented in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. On 18 June 1835 a gas explosion in one of the tunnels killed 102 miners, the youngest of whom was aged eight and the oldest 75. Many of the dead were found with their cloth caps in their mouths. This is believed to have been an attempt to prevent inhalation of the gas which eventually killed them. The bodies were extracted and buried in St Peter's churchyard at the top of the bank overlooking the Wallsend Burn. A plaque has been erected within the churchyard to commemorate this tragedy.

Twentieth century

The town has expanded greatly in terms of housing since the end of World War II, and since the 1960s. Wallsend Town Centre—including the main shopping area known as the "Wallsend Forum"—is in fact to the west of the land covered by the town. To the north of this area lies the older estate of High Farm and the new estate of Hadrian Lodge. The town centre of Wallsend is separated from the eastern areas of the town by the Wallsend Burn, a stream running through a small glacial valley from north-west to south-east and through the Willington Gut into the River Tyne. To the east of the Burn is the old area of Holy Cross, which contains the ruins of a medieval church, the pre-war estate of Rosehill and the mainly post-war estate of Howdon. To the south of Howdon lies Willington Quay which, as its name suggests, once served shipping but which is now dominated by industry and housing. East Howdon forms a small enclave between Willington Quay and North Shields. The town's principal thoroughfare and shopping street is the High Street. To the north of this street is Wallsend Green, the town's most picturesque area, consisting of large houses as well as the Sir G B Hunter Memorial Hospital, surrounding a green square. Behind the Green, where the Burn runs through the parkland of the Hall Grounds lies Richardson Dees Park, a traditional British municipal park, whose restoration has frequently been demanded by local residents and is planned with many improvements such as a skate and BMX park, better pathways, and a rebuilding of the Duffy Memorial Fountain. On Rheydt Avenue in Wallsend is Centurion Park Golf Club, previously named Wallsend Golf Club. It has 18 holes and a driving range. The town is home to Wallsend Boys Club, which has produced many famous

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

players such as

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a striker (association football), striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of t ...

, Lee Clark, Steve Watson,

Peter Beardsley Peter Andrew Beardsley (born 18 January 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who played as a forward or midfielder. In 1987, he set a record transfer fee in the English game and represented his country 59 times between 1 ...

, Robbie Elliott, Mick Tait and

Michael Carrick Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional Association football, football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of club Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough. He is considered as one of the best midfield ...

. It is also hometown and birthplace to internationally successful musician Sting, whose song '' All This Time'' refers to the Roman wall and fort. The musical '' The Last Ship'', composed and written by Sting, is set in Wallsend.

Wallsend Town Hall Wallsend Town Hall is a municipal building on High Street East in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. The town hall, which was the headquarters of North Tyneside Council from 1974 to 2008, is a Grade II listed building. History After Wallsend bec ...

, a large Edwardian Baroque style building in High Street East, was completed in 1908.

Commemorating Roman history

In dedication to its Roman heritage, Wallsend's historic name ''Segedunum'' is shown in many places in the town, and signs with

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

wordings can also be found. Wallsend Metro Station has some signs in English and Latin. Such translations tend to amuse, with contrasts between today's and ancient times. Segedunum Roman Fort Museum has displays on Roman history as well as reconstructions of a bath house and a section of the Roman Wall which once stood on the site. Image:Hadrian's Wall map, Wallsend Metro station - geograph.org.uk - 725591.jpg, A Hadrian's Wall map imitating the style of a Metro map Image:Wallsend platfom 2 02.jpg, Bilingual, English–Latin station platform and no smoking sign Image:Latin_spoken_here_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1052519.jpg, No trespassing signs with penalty, in English and Latin

Transport

Demography

In 2011, Wallsend had a population of 43,826 compared with 42,842 in the previous census. In Wallsend, 4.9% of the population is non-white British, which is the same as the surrounding borough. It also has the same percentage of Asian people, but has slightly more black people. Wallsend is the second least ethnically diverse major urban subdivision in

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

and has a larger percentage of white British people compared with

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, in Tyne and Wear, England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne, hence its name. It is east-northeast of Newcastle up ...

which is also slightly larger in population. However it has more ethnic minorities than Jarrow, which is south of the river Tyne.

Notable people

* Paul W. S. Anderson - filmmaker * Andrea Riseborough - actress * Sheldon Hall - film historian *

Peter Higgs Peter Ware Higgs (29 May 1929 – 8 April 2024) was a British theoretical physicist, professor at the University of Edinburgh,Griggs, Jessica (Summer 2008The Missing Piece ''Edit'' the University of Edinburgh Alumni Magazine, p. 17 and Nobel ...

- theoretical physicist, winner of the

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

Paul Kennedy Paul Michael Kennedy (born 17 June 1945) is a British historian specialising in the history of international relations, economic power and grand strategy. He is on the editorial board of numerous scholarly journals and writes for ''The New Y ...

- historian * Andrew Leslie - shipbuilder * John Anthony McGuckin - theologian, Orthodox Archpriest * Vicky Pattison - reality TV star * Charlie Hardwick - actress * Danny Murphy - actor * Janet McTeer - actress

Politics

* John McKay - MP for Wallsend 1945–1964 *

Chi Onwurah Dame Chinyelu Susan "Chi" Onwurah (; born 12 April 1965) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West (UK Parliament constituency), Newcastle ...

- MP for Newcastle Upon Tyne Central 2010 to present * T. Dan Smith - regional politician *Paul Moat - Liberal Democrat Head of Campaigns and regional businessman

Music

* Richard Gaddes - opera administrator * Ray Jackson - musician *

Ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...

- musician *

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

- band * Sting - musician

Football - players, managers, coaches

Steve Bruce Stephen Roger Bruce (born 31 December 1960) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was a centre-back in a twenty-year playing career. He is currently the head coa ...

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

* George Reay * Lee Clark * Neil McDonald * Tony Lowery * Steve Watson * Paul Stephenson * Michael Smith * Barry Richardson

Other sports players

* Billy Bolt - motorcycle rider, FIM SuperEnduro World Championship winner * Kevin McDine - darts player * Chris Thorman - Rugby * Gary Wilson - snooker player

References

External links

Tyne and Wear Archives Service: historical information on Wallsend

Read a detailed historic record about Wallsend Roman Fort
{{Authority control Towns in Tyne and Wear Unparished areas in Tyne and Wear Former civil parishes in Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Borough of North Tyneside