Wallsend, Northumberland
Historical Description
Wallsend, an important and growing town and a parish in Northumberland. The town lies on the river Tyne and on the Newcastle and Tynemouth railway, at the E end of the Roman Wall, 3½ miles ENE of Newcastle; took its name from its position at the end of the wall; was the site of the Roman station Segedunum, where Roman pottery, inscriptions, coins, an altar to Jupiter, and other Roman relics have been found; became noted in the 18th century for coal-workings of prime quality, which were abandoned in 1853; and has post, money order, and telegraph offices (R.S.O.), two railway stations, the latest built in 1893, two churches, a Roman Catholic church, Presbyterian, Primitive, New Connexion, and United Free Methodist and Wesleyan chapels, and a mission room. Acreage of parish, 2528 of land and 197 of water and foreshore; population, 20,113. It is governed by an urban district council. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners are lords of the manor. There are two ecclesiastical parishes- St Peter's (population 3330) and St Luke's (constituted in 1887, population 7927). The livings are a rectory and a vicarage respectively in the diocese of Newcastle-on-Tyne; net value of St Peter's, £560 with residence; gross value of St Luke's, £300. Patron of both, the Bishop. St Peter's Church was erected in 1807-9, and restored and enlarged in 1892. It now consists of nave, chancel, and western tower. St Luke's was built in 1886, is in the Early English style, consisting of nave and aisles. There are also an hospital for infectious diseases, and a theatre built in 1893. The local co-operative society have built twelve streets and terraces, all of which have been purchased by the working classes in the district, and also a large building, erected in 1875, and enlarged in 1884, comprising concert-hall, reading-rooms, and library. There are extensive coal-mines in the neighbourhood, forge and engineering works, lead and copper smelting works, a brass foundry, and cement works, and iron and steel shipbuilding is carried on Willington and Howdon Panns are separate ecclesiastical parishes.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Northumberland | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Wallsend Holy Cross | |
| Poor Law union | Tynemouth | |
| Ward | Castle |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Wallsend from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Wallsend (Holy Cross))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Northumberland is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Wallsend are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following newspapers related to Northumberland online: