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Wallsend

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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a municipal borough in the Tyneside parliamentary division of Northumberland, England, on the north bank of the Tyne, 34 m. E.N.E. of Newcastle by a branch of the North-Eastern railway. Pop. (1891) 11,257; (1901) 20,918. The church of St Peter dates from 1809. There are remains of the church of the Holy Cross in transitional Norman style. At an early period Wallsend was famous for its coal, but the name has now a general application to coal that does not go through a sieve with meshes five-eighths of an inch in size. The colliery, which was opened in 1807, has frequently been the scene of dreadful accidents, notably on the 23rd of October 1821, when 52 lives were lost. There are ship and boat building yards, engineering works, lead and copper smelting works, cement works and brick and tile works. In the river are two pontoon docks and an immense dry dock. Wallsend was incorporated in 1901, and the corporation consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 1202 acres.

Wallsend derives its modern name from its position at the eastern extremity of the Roman Hadrian's Wall; and there was a Roman fort here. It had a quay, of which remains have been discovered, and possessed a magazine of corn and other provisions for the supply of the stations in the interior.