Sunderland

Sunderland is an industrial city and port in the English metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear.

History

The area is part of the Anglican Diocese of Durham. It has been in the Roman Catholic diocese of Hexham and Newcastle since the Catholic hierarchy was restored in 1850

Related Topics:
Anglican - Roman Catholic - Hexham - Newcastle - 1850

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Located at the mouth of the River Wear, the name "Sunderland" is reputed to come from Soender-land: the land divided by the river. In 674, King Ecgfrith of Northumbria granted a large tract of land to Benedict Biscop to set up a monastery. As a result, the north side of the river became "Monkwearmouth", and the south, still under the authority of the Bishop of Durham was called "Bishopwearmouth", both names which are used to this day, and so Wearmouth was cut asunder by the river, and politics. Biscop imported glassmakers from France who established a workshop at the Monkwearmouth site, re-establishing glassmaking in Britain. This event is commemorated by the National Glass Centre which stands on a nearby site on the river Wear. The monastery quickly became associated with the Venerable Bede, Britain's first historian and first known prose writer.

Related Topics:
River Wear - Ecgfrith of Northumbria - Benedict Biscop - Monastery - Bishop of Durham - National Glass Centre - Venerable Bede

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Prior to the English Civil War in 1642, the bestowing of the rights to the East of England coal trade upon neighbouring Newcastle by King Charles I created resentment between Newcastle and Sunderland. Sunderland thus sided with Parliament during the civil war and was a barrack town for Scottish mercenaries leading the siege of the Royalist Newcastle which fell in 1644. During the Commonwealth Sunderland was given preferred status over the ports on the Tyne and the then town prospered. After the Restoration a number of Royal Charters restricted Sunderland's growth as a trade centre. This history has contributed to a lasting civic enmity between Newcastle and Sunderland, most evident in the intense football rivalry between Sunderland and Newcastle United - one of the longest lasting rivalries in English football.

Related Topics:
Football - Sunderland - Newcastle United

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In 1719 the separate parish of Sunderland was carved from the densely populated east end of Bishopwearmouth, to serve the port.

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Local government was divided between the three churches (Holy Trinity Sunderland, St Michael's Bishopwearmouth, and St Peter's Monkwearmouth) and when cholera broke out in 1830 the "select vestrymen" as the church councilmen were called showed themselves completely unable to understand and cope with the epidemic.

Related Topics:
Cholera - Epidemic

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Demands for democracy and organised town government saw the Borough of Sunderland created in 1836, although impatient citizens elected Andrew White to be Mayor in December 1835.

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Sunderland developed on plateaux high above the river, and so never suffered from the problem of allowing people to cross the river without interrupting the passage of high masted vessels. The Wearmouth Bridge was built in 1796, at the instigation of Rowland Burdon, the MP, and is described by Nikolaus Pevsner, the recognised authority, as being of superb elegance. It was the second iron bridge built after the famous span at Ironbridge itself, but over twice as long and only three-quarters the weight.

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Shipbuilding

Ships were built on the Wear from at least 1346 onwards and by the mid-eighteenth century Sunderland was probably the chief ship-building town in the country. The Port of Sunderland was significantly expanded in the 1850s with the construction of Hudson Dock to designs by River Wear Commissioner's Engineer John Murray, with consultancy by Robert Stephenson http://www.sine.ncl.ac.uk/view_structure_information.asp?struct_id=505.

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One famous vessel was the ‘wonderful’ Torrens, the clipper in which Joseph Conrad sailed, and on which he began his first novel. As Basil Lubbock states, Torrens was one of the most successful ships ever built, besides being one of the fastest, and for many years was the favourite passenger ship to Adelaide. She was one of the most famous ships of her time and can claim to be the finest ship ever launched from a Sunderland yard. She was built in ten months by James Laing at their Deptford yard on the Wear in 1875.

Related Topics:
Torrens - Joseph Conrad - James Laing - Deptford - 1875

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Between 1939 and 1945 the Wear yards launched 245 merchant ships totalling 1.5 million tons, a quarter of the merchant tonnage produced in the UK at this period.

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Next to the North Sea, Sunderland was traditionally a major centre of the shipbuilding and coal mining industries, although the last shipyard closed in 1988 and the last coal mine in 1994. The site of the last coal mine is now occupied by the Stadium of Light, the home ground of football club Sunderland A.F.C.

Related Topics:
North Sea - Shipbuilding - Coal mining - Shipyard - 1988 - 1994 - Stadium of Light - Football - Sunderland A.F.C.

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The Vaux Brewery was established in the town centre in the 1880s and for 110 years was a major employer. Following a series of consolidations in the British Brewing Industry, however, the brewery was finally closed in July 1999. Vaux in Sunderland and Wards in Sheffield had been part of the Vaux Group, but with the closure of both breweries it was re-branded The Swallow Group, concentrating on the hotel side of the business. This was subject to a successful take-over by Whitbread PLC in the autumn of 2000.

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As the traditional industries have declined, electronics, chemicals, and paper manufacture have replaced them. Some of these new industries, as well as the Nissan car plant, and the nearby North East Aircraft Museum are in Washington, which has more space to allow purpose built factories.

Related Topics:
Nissan car plant - Washington

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The service sector has countered the decline in heavy industry, and the town is home to many customer service telephone call centres, the quality of which means they have avoided the recent trend towards outsourcing overseas.

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Commencing in 1990 the banks of the Wear experienced a massive physical regeneration with the creation of housing, retail parks and business centres on former shipbuilding sites. Alongside the creation of the National Glass Centre the University of Sunderland has also created a new campus on the St.Peter's site. The clearance of the Vaux Brewery site on the North East fringe of the City Centre has created a further opportunity for new development in the town centre.

Related Topics:
National Glass Centre - University of Sunderland

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Like many cities, Sunderland comprises a number of areas with their own distinct histories, e.g: Fulwell, Monkwearmouth, Roker, and Southwick on the northern side of the Wear, and Bishopwearmouth and Hendon to the south.

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The town was the one of the most heavily bombed areas in England during World War II. As a result, much of the town centre was rebuilt in an undistinguished concrete utility style. However, many fine old buildings remain. Religious buildings include

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Holy Trinity built in 1719 for an independent Sunderland,

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St Michaels's Church, built as Bishopwearmouth Parish Church and now known as Sunderland Minster and St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth, part of which dates from AD 674, and was the original monastery.

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St Andrew's Roker, so-called "Cathedral of the Arts and Crafts Movement" is one of the finest churches of its date in the country (1906-10). It contains work by William Morris,Ernest Gimson and Eric Gill.

Related Topics:
Arts and Crafts Movement - William Morris - Ernest Gimson - Eric Gill

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