North Hylton, Shipyard

Shipyards with cranes and saw pits are shown on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey plan. There were probably three yards in a line along the northern bank of the River Wear on the northern edge of North Hylton. The yards show few internal features other than the saw pits and cranes. By 1896 the yards had closed. Today the site is a broad expanse of open ground consisting largely of intertidal grass and mud flats. The area is interspersed with patterns of eroded and rotted upright timbers, so there may be some potential for the survival of deposits associated with the timber shipbuilding yards.