SHIELDS (NORTH), a sea-port and market-town,
partly in the township of NORTH-SHIELDS, partly in
that of TYNEMOUTH, partly in that of PRESTON, and
partly in that of CHIRTON, parish of TYNEMOUTH,
eastern division of CASTLE ward, county of NORTHUMBERLAND,
8 miles (E. N.E.) from Newcastle, and 276
(N. by W.) from London; the township of North Shields
contains 8205 inhabitants, and the present population
of the town is supposed to be about 20,000. The earliest
notice of this place occurs in the reign of Edward I,
from which it appears, that in the preceding reign the
only buildings on the site of the present town consisted
of fishermens' huts, or Shielings, of which the name is
supposed to be a corruption. At about the same
period, the prior and monks of Tynemouth erected
houses here, formed a harbour, established a market,
and encouraged the settlement of ship-builders and
tradesmen, thereby exciting the jealousy of the burgesses
of Newcastle, who possessed the exclusive
trade of the Tyne, and commenced proceedings against
the prior, who, by a judgment of the court of King's
Bench, was obliged to destroy the buildings that he
had erected, and to give up the commerce which he
was creating, and the town consequently returned to its
former obscurity, and remained in that state until the
middle of the seventeenth century, when Cromwell used
exertions to remove the restrictions which prevented
it from assuming that station as a commercial town
which its situation was entitled to, by causing an act to
be passed for the erection of quays, &c., and the establishment
of a market twice a week; but his deatlunterfered
with these plans, and it was not until the close of the
seventeenth century, that any of the restrictions crippling
its trade were removed; since that period the facilities
afforded by the increase of knowledge to the
freedom of trade having caused the abolition of the re-
maining restrictions, North Shields has advanced rapidly
to its present importance, and the immense augmentation
in its commerce may be estimated from the
circumstance of its population having, increased, in the
period between the census of 1801 and that of 1821,
upwards of nine thousand seven hundred persons,
being more than three-fourths of the whole number of
inhabitants at the former period.
The town is situated on the northern shore of the river
Tyne, at its confluence with the German Ocean, and opposite
to South Shields, which is on the southern bank
of the river. The older part consists chiefly of narrow
lanes and alleys, and its appearance has been compared
to that of Wapping in London, but the more recent additions
comprise several spacious streets, three handsome
squares, and many houses of a very superior description,
both in the town and its immediate vicinity. The
theatre is a small brick building, fitted up in a neat
and appropriate manner, and is open for a few months
in the winter season. A subscription library was established
in 1807, and the valuable collection of books of
which it is composed is kept in a handsome building
erected for the purpose. A scientific and mechanics' institution
was formed in 1825, which is rapidly advancing
in prosperity. The town is lighted with gas; and water,
which formerly in dry seasons was difficult to be procured,
is now abundantly supplied from the reservoirs at
Percy Main, Whitley, and Waterville, and conveyed by
pipes into the town, by a company incorporated in 1786.
The harbour is capable of containing two thousand sail
of vessels, and in spring tides ships of five hundred
tons' burden can pass the bar crossing its mouth
in safety. The principal article of trade is coal,
which is exported in large quantities to London and
places on the eastern coasts of England and Scotland,
and this trade employs the greater part of the vessels
belonging to the port, the number of which, in 1827,
was two hundred and seventy-nine, a few being engaged
in the American and Baltic trade, and in the Greenland
and Davis' Straits fishery. Ships of three hundred tons'
burden can load or unload at the quay, which is spa-
cious, and has a crane for facilitating the landing or
shipping of goods. The principal manufactures are
such as are connected with the shipping, there being
six ship-builders' yards, two sail-cloth manufactories,
two salt-works, and a chain-cable and anchor manufactory
3 in addition to which are rope-walks, and ma-
nufactories for tobacco, gloves, and hats. Some inconvenience
is felt from ships being obliged to clear out at
the custom-house at Newcastle; here is an office belonging
to that establishment, and at Clifford's Fort is a watch-
house, where officers are stationed, with a lighthouse adjoining
to it: a life-boat is also kept here, which was
presented to the town by the Duke of Northumberland,
in 1798, with a donation of A 20 towards keeping it
in repair. A weekly market is held on Friday, in a spa-
cious and commodious market-place, formed in 1804,
by the Duke of Northumberland, as lord of the manor;
and there is a statute fair annually on the first Friday
in November. A meeting of magistrates is held
every Tuesday; and a court leet and baron, for making
presentments, and for the recovery of debts under 40s.,
is held at Easter and Michaelmas, by the steward of
the manor of Tynemouth.
North Shields has had no place of worship belonging
to the established church (the inhabitants having
attended the church at Tynemouth) until recently, when
a chapel of ease was erected in the market-place.
iThere are two places of- worship belonging to Methodists
in the New Connexion, and one each to Particular
Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Primitive
and Wesleyan Methodists, Presbyterians, United
Secession Church, and Roman Catholics, also a synagogue;
that belonging to the Wesleyan Methodists is
a spacious building, erected in 1807, at an expense
of £2500. A free school, with houses for the master
and mistress, was erected by subscription in 1810,
in commemoration of the royal jubilee; it is supported
by subscriptions, and nearly three hundred children
of both sexes are instructed on the Lancaste-
rian plan. Another school was founded and liberally
endowed by Mr. Thomas Kettlewell, in 1825, for which
a handsome and commodious house has been erected,
at an expense of £1200, and nearly two hundred boys
are gratuitously instructed. The dispensary, which was
established in 1802, is supported by donations and
annual subscriptions, and has afforded most extensive
relief to the poor. In addition to the institutions already noticed,
there are several benefit societies, particularly
that formed in 1824, for the mutual relief of
sailors suffering from sickness, shipwreck, or want, and
consisting of upwards of two thousand members. Steamboats
pass regularly every day between this town and
Newcastle, and a constant intercourse is maintained by
boats with South Shields. It has been frequently proposed
to connect this latter town with North Shields,
to accomplish which a tunnel, to pass under the bed of
the river, was at one period proposed; and it was more
recently thought that a chain bridge would be the most
desirable mode of opening a communication between
the two places; but this appears to have been abandoned,
from a fear that it might obstruct the progress
of the shipping.