South Blyth, Northumberland
Historical Description
Blyth, South, a seaport town, forming with the lordship of Newsham and suburbs of Waterloo, Cowpen Quay, and Crofton, an ecclesiastical parish in Northumberland. The town stands on the S side of the river Blyth, at its mouth, and on the Blyth and Tyne railway, 288 miles from London. It was formerly a disagreeable place, of poor appearance, with narrow, irregular streets; but it has been much improved, and it now contains many good houses. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office, a railway station, two banks, three churches (one Roman Catholic), two Presbyterian chapels, a Congregational Free church, a Wesleyan chapel, three other Methodist chapels, a Christians' meeting-house, erected in 1882, and a Mechanics' Institute. A weekly market is held on Saturday; a large trade is carried on in coals, brought from neighbouring collieries and shipped here; and there is much manufacturing industry in connection with shipping. The harbour has undergone great improvement in recent years at considerable cost, including docks, a quay of 1400 feet, and a breakwater of about 3000 yards, and is very safe, and can be entered by vessels in all weathers. The depth of water over the bar at full tides was formerly 16 feet, and this has been increased. Two fixed lights, put up in 1788, are 445 feet apart, and 26 and 48 feet high. The National Lifeboat Institution has a station here. Area of the township, including Newsham, 1226 acres, with 188 of tidal water and foreshore; population, including Newsham, 3728; of the ecclesiastical parish, 4553. The manor belongs to the Ridley family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Newcastle-on-Tyne; net value, £200. Patron, Sir M. W. Ridley, Bart. The Thomas Knight Memorial Hospital, opened in 1887, has an endowment of £6000.
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Northumberland is available to browse.
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers related to Northumberland online: