North Shields, possible medieval Quay or Harbour

HER Number:
4550

District:
N Tyneside

Site Name:
North Shields, possible medieval Quay or Harbour

Place:
North Shields

Map Sheet:
NZ36NE

Class:
Maritime

Site Type: Broad:
Landing Point

Site Type: Specific:
Quay

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
Evidence appears to have been recovered in 1839 in the vicinity of the Low Light for a quay structure or harbour of possible medieval date. Tomlinson writes that "in digging to make gas tanks at the low lights, in a place called the Salt Marsh in Pow Dean at a depth of 12 feet 6 inches from the surface, the workmen came to a framing of large oak beams, black as ebony, pinned together with wooden pins or tree-nails, the whole resembling a wharf or pier whether ships drawing 9 or 10 feet of water had come". Large hollowed out timbers were found in silt at Pow Burn in 1816 and Craster suggests that they may have been hollowed out in order to convey water. Similar examples have been found in Newcastle and dated to the post medieval period.

Easting:
363

Northing:
686

Grid Reference:
NZ363686

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 4550 >> W.W. Tomlinson, 1888, Comprehensive Guide to Northumberland, p 45 H.H.E. Craster, 1907, History of Northumberland, Vol. VIII, p 284 R. Simpson, 1988, North Shields and Tynemouth, p 2