Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 3.djvu/597

SUNDEELAND. 585 SUNDERLAND. York, Newcastle, and Berwick railways. It has three stations on the North-Eastern railway, and branch lines to the Brandling Junction and Seaham Harbour rail- ways. It is situated on both banks, but chiefly on the right, of the river Wear, at its confluence with the German Ocean. The town and borough comprise, be- sides the par. of Sunderland, the pars, of Bishopwear- mouth and Monkwearmouth, places of importance in the Anglo-Saxon times, and which have already been treated under their separate heads. The parish of Sun- derland remained part of Bishopwearmouth till 1719, when it was constituted a distinct parish, and now forms the core of the new borough created by the Re- form Act in 1832. The whole of the parish of Sunder- land which occupies the point of land at the S. side of the mouth of the Wear is built over, with the excep- tion of about 70 acres, forming the town-moor or com- mon. It is a bonding port and coastguard station, having an extensive trade, chiefly connected with the shipping of coal, which commenced towards the close of the reign of Elizabeth. The main street forms a con- tinuation of the High-street of Bishopwearmouth, and is a broad thoroughfare nearly a mile in length. The other streets are heterogeneous, those in the newer part of the town being well built, whilst those in the older part are densely-populated, narrow alleys. Most of the streets are paved and lighted with gas, and the houses are abundantly supplied with water from the recently-constructed works at Hamilton Hill and Fulwell. The principal public buildings are the Exchange, in the High-street, erected in 1812 ; the Custom-house, also in the High-street, erected in 1837 ; the Lyceum Hall, recently erected, with a hall 90 feet by 48 feet, and capable of accommodating 1,800 persons ; assembly-rooms, in Upper Sans-street; the Registry Buildings, in the High-street ; the Sailors' Home, front- ing the town-moor, erected in 1856 at a cost of 4,000 ; the Central Hall, in John-street, where the county court is held ; the post office, in Bridge-street ; the mayor's, corporation, and police offices, in West Wear-street; the Theatre Royal, in Bedford-street, opened in 1855 ; the Lyceum Theatre, in Lambton-street, opened in 1856 ; the General Market, entered through an arcade in High-street ; the barracks, at the end of High- street; the Athenaeum, in Monkwearmouth, contain- ing a large hall, lecture theatre, museum, library, and other apartments ; also a mechanics' institute, public baths and wash-houses, in the Hendon-road, erected in 1850 at a cost of 3,000; other baths and wash-houses in Halgarth-square and Moorgate-street ; the union workhouse, on the road to Hylton; the Sunderland infirmary, eye infirmary, lying-in-hospital, a savings- bank, situated in Wearmouth, three commercial banks, gas and waterworks, and a cast-iron bridge of a single arch, 236 feet span and 100 feet above low water ; it was constructed in 1796 by Wilson, but was strength- > ned and widened in 1858, under the direction of Robert Stephenson ; its height above the water is sufficient to allow of ships passing under it by only lowering their top-gallant masts. Above the bridge, on both sides of the river, are extensive staiths for shipping coals, about 35 shipbuilding yards, and spacious docks and quays, the whole extending for nearly five miles from the sea to Hylton. The N. dock covers about ten acres, and was opened in 1837; the 8. dock can accommodate above M) vessels at one time, and was opened in 1850, but the works in connection with it were not completed till 1856, when the whole cost was estimated at over 700,000. These works comprise the great dock, cover- ing 32 acres, part of which was gained from the sea by tarrying out groynes or sea-walls for 500 feet into the wator ; a half-tide basin, covering 18J acres, and two nailer basins of 4 acres. The depth of water in the dock is from 20 to 24 feet, and the depth on the li:u Irom 10 to 18 feet water, so that vessels of 300 tons isily come up. The tidal harbours below cover ' 20 acres, being formed by a N. pier 1,890 feet, and a S. pier 1,850 feet lonp;, with lighthouses 73 and 32 feet high, which sire visible for 13 and 10 miles respectively. In 1841 the N. lighthouse, which is built of stone, was removed bodily from its former place, about 500 yards, under the direction of Murray, the engineer. At the pier is a self-registering tide gauge, by Messrs. Meek and Watson, showing the height of water by day or night ; and on the S. pier are the offices of the Wear Commissioners, who have the conservation of the river, for giving information respecting the ingress and egress of vessels, and directing signals. Shipbuilding is car- ried on to an extent probably greater than at any other port of the empire, between 300 and 400 vessels, of an aggregate of 100,000 tons, being built annually. The largest yards are at Deptford, where many gunboats were built for the Admiralty during the late war with Russia, and where the Holinsdale clipper frigate was built by Messrs. Briggs for the China trade. The coctl trade gives employment to a great number of keelmen, who bring the coal down to the staiths in keels or barges to be reshipped, the superior quality being from the Hetton and Lambton mines, but a very serviceable coal is obtained from the Messrs. Pemberton and Co.'s pit, on the Sunderland side of the river, which last is the deepest mine in the world, being 380 fathoms below the surface. There are numerous potteries, rope walks, nail factories, anchor and chain cable works, forges, iron and brass foundries, flint glass works, glass bottle works, at Ayre's Quay, steam saw mills, paper mills, chemical works, tanneries, breweries, and lime kilns, extending for several miles along both banks of the river. Ad- joining the town are several populous districts or suburbs, as Deptford, about one mile W. of Sunderlaud, famous for shipbuilding; Bildon Hill, on the S.W., containing the People's Park, purchased in 1852 for 2,000, where is to be erected the monument to General Sir Henry Havelock, who was born at Ford Hall, in this parish ; also Monk- wearmouth Pans, Monkwearmouth Shore, Southwick, Roker, Tulwell, and Hylton, on the N. side of the river Wear, nearly opposite to Sunderland. The population of the municipal borough of Sunderland in 1851 was 63,855, and in 1861, 78,211 ; that of the parliamentary borough, which includes several adjoining townships, was, in 1851, 67,394, and in 1861, 85,797, of which number the parish of Sunderland contained 17,107. It returns two members to parliament, the constituency being about 1,700. In 1634 it received a charter of incorporation from Bishop Morton, of Durham, and under the Municipal Act of 1835, is divided into 7 wards, governed by a mayor, 14 aldermen, and 42 coun- cillors, with the style of " mayor, aldermen, and com- monalty of the borough of Sunderland." The muni- cipal revenue is about 5,000, and the revenue of the docks above 40,000. Two weekly newspapers the Sunderland Herald and Times are published in the town. The living is a rect.* with the cur. of St. John's annexed, in the dice, of Durham, val. 370, in the patron, of the bishop. The parish church of Sunderland, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, has a tower containing an illuminated clock, sun dial, and peal of eight bells. St. John's Church, or chapel-of-ease to Holy Trinity, was erected in 1769. There are, besides, the parish churches of Monkwear- mouth and Bishopswearmouth, as well as several district churches, but these have already been described under their respective parishes. There are in the borough above 30 chapels for the several sects of Protestant Dissenters, besides Scotch and English Presbyterians, Society of Friends, Unitarians, Jews, and Roman Catho- lics. The Roman Catholic chapel, erected in 1835, was enlarged by the addition of two side chapels in 1852. It contains several painted windows and a stone carving over the high altar. Attached to St. Bedo's convent, iu Green-street, is also a chapel, erected in 1857. The schools are numerous and well attended, including several en- dowed schools, parochial, National, British and Foreign, infant, Roman Catholic, industrial, ragged, reformatory, and Sunday-schools in connection with the several churches and chapels ; but of these the parochial, or Gray's schools, situated on the town-moor, are tho most con- spicuous, having been rebuilt in 1857, for tho inslruc-