South Shields, The Lawe, fort

HER Number:
949

District:
S Tyneside

Site Name:
South Shields, The Lawe, fort

Place:
South Shields

Map Sheet:
NZ36NE

Class:
Defence

Site Type: Broad:

Site Type: Specific:
Fort

General Period:
Post Medieval

Specific Period:
C17

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
A fort was built on the Lawe, South Shields, in 1643, at the command of the Marquis of Newcastle, governor of Newcastle, who sent 300 men and 5 or 6 pieces of ordnance for the purpose. It was 9 feet high, surrounded by a ditch 12 feet wide and 11 feet deep, and garrisoned by 100 Royalist soldiers. After two attempts, the Scots captured the fort on 20th March 1644, and lost it briefly in May. It was lost and won thrice in a day in October, the Scots eventually retaining it. Its precise site is uncertain: it is described as not far from the Roman fort, and close to the beacons. Though it is supposed to have existed into the 19th century it is not shown on maps of 1768 and 1827.

Easting:
365

Northing:
680

Grid Reference:
NZ365680

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 949 >> Parsons & White, 1827, History and Gazetteer of Durham and Northumberland, 1, 277 W. Brockie, 1851, History of the Town, Trade and Port of Shields and...District, 68-70 G. Lyall, 1860, The Capture of the Fort at South Shields by the Scots, The South Shields Amateur Magazine, 18-23 C.S. Terry, 1899, The Scottish Campaign... and The Siege of Newcastle... Archaeologia Aeliana, 2, XXI, 168-9, 177, 200 G.B. Hodgson, 1903, The Borough of South Shields, 83-86 M.A. Richardson, 1846, The taking of the fort at South Shields in 1644 J. Fraser, 2010, 'Tyneside during the English Civil War' in Arbeia Magazine, Issue 41