36-623: The Willington Waggonway was constructed in 1795 to carry coal from Tyneside mines to the river. It was rediscovered in 2013 during archaeological work being carried out prior to redevelopment of the former Neptune shipyard in Walker due to its proximity to the Roman fort, Segedunum . Well preserved under compacted coal waste was part of the most complete and complex 18th century waggonway ever found. This article about transport in England
72-586: A constant level. After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, the coal deposits fell into private hands and the restrictions on output disappeared. The yearly rate of extraction increased from approximately 15,000 tons prior to the Reformation, to 162,000 in 1603, to 239,000 in 1609 and to 425,000 in 1634, nearly all for export from the Tyne. Coal was exported to London and other parts of England, but also to Holland , France and Flanders . Coal became by far
108-500: A near total monopoly of the production of coal. This move was aided in 1583 when Queen Elizabeth leased the ex-palatinate mines of Gateshead and Whickham to two Newcastle merchants, Henry Anderson and William Selby, who in turn apportioned them to the leading Hostmen. This became known as the "Grand Lease", and the Hostmen came to be known as the "Lords of Coal", as they now controlled both production and export of this commodity. In 1590
144-576: A race, the odds changing as the fortunes of the contestants changed. Contestants who became champions of the Tyne would often challenge the corresponding champions of the River Thames, and the race would be arranged to take place on one of the two rivers. Rivalry between the Tyne and the Thames was very keen, and rowers who upheld the honour of the Tyne became local heroes. Three such oarsmen, who came from humble backgrounds and became household names in
180-517: A reputation for their distinctive dialect and accent. Newcastle may have been given this name, a local diminutive of the name "George", because their miners used George Stephenson 's safety lamp (invented in 1815 and called a "Georgie lamp") to prevent firedamp explosions, rather than the Davy lamp used elsewhere. An alternative explanation relates that during the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745
216-612: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in Northern England . Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies . The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt . The population of Tyneside as published in the 2011 census was 774,891, making it the eighth most-populous urban area in
252-479: Is owed to coal mining . Coal was first known to be dug in Tyneside from superficial seams in around 1200, but there is some evidence from Bede 's writings that it may have been dug as early as 800 AD. Coal was dug from local drift mines and bell pits , and although initially only used locally, it was exported from the port of Newcastle from the mid 14th century onwards. Tyneside had a strategic advantage as far as
288-649: Is still a problem compared with some other areas of Britain, expansion of new industries such as tourism , science and high-technology , has fuelled local development, especially in Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Tyneside at current basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British pounds sterling. The Hostmen of Newcastle-upon-Tyne The Incorporated Company of Hostmen of Newcastle upon Tyne , often called
324-594: Is still a working shipyard in Wallsend . From early in the 19th century, it was a custom to hold boat races on the Tyne. The Tyne had a large number of keelmen and wherrymen, who handled boats as part of their jobs. As on the River Thames , there were competitions to show who was the best oarsman. As a wherryman did not earn very much, competitive rowing was seen as a quick way of earning extra money. Regattas were held, and provided modest prizes for professionals, but
360-736: The Hostmen's Company of Newcastle , is a company incorporated by royal charter of 22 March 1599/1600. Analogous to a livery company of the City of London , it still exists. It is best known to economic historians as a cartel of businessmen who formed a monopoly to control the export of coal from the River Tyne in North East England . They were so known from the medieval practice of "hosting", whereby local businessmen provided visiting merchants with accommodation and introduced them to local traders. The Hostmen acted as middlemen with whom
396-484: The keelmen who handled the keels , boats that carried the coal from the riverbanks to the waiting colliers. The Derwent (valley) , a major tributary of the Tyne that rises in County Durham , saw the development of the steel industry from around 1600 onwards. This was led by German immigrant cutlers and sword-makers, probably from around Solingen , who fled from religious persecution at home and settled in
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#1732787356388432-588: The "Tyneside Built-up Area" or "Tyneside Urban Area". These figures are a decline from 879,996; this loss was mainly due to the ONS reclassifying Hetton-le-Hole , Houghton-le-Spring , Chester-le-Street and Washington in the Wearside Built-up Area instead of Tyneside. In both the 2001 and 2011 census the area was given the following subdivisions; Gateshead, Jarrow and Tynemouth had boundary changes: The people of Newcastle, called " Geordies ", have
468-597: The Company of Hostmen. The Commons in 1621 included the Newcastle Hostmen in a list of monopolists who should have their privileges revoked, but the Statute of Monopolies ( 21 Jas. 1 . c. 3) specifically exempted them. Nor to the liberties of Newcastle-upon-Type, nor to licences of keeping taverns; In 1637 Charles I , in an attempt to raise revenue, doubled the tax on Tyneside coal in return for allowing
504-584: The Hostmen to regulate production and set the price of the coal. The London coal importers and the East Anglian ship-owners were outraged and resolved to boycott Tyneside coal. As a result, the price of coal rose and the royal revenues dropped. Charles was forced to cancel the Hostmen's monopoly. When the Scots rose in 1639 against Charles' introduction of the English Prayer Book into Scotland,
540-584: The Hostmen, the right to elect the mayor and burgesses of the town. In 1600, 240,000 tons of coal were shipped from the Tyne, 20 times more than the tonnage produced by the Durham coal industry and shipped from the River Wear . The tightly knit Hostmen, with their cartel and control of the Tyne, now controlled the coal production business. They had capital and economies of scale on their side. Few local coal entrepreneurs could survive if they were not members of
576-579: The King regarding North Shields and succeeded in suspending the export of coal, as well as other trade, from the new settlement. Henceforth, North Shields remained solely as a fishing port. In 1350 Edward III granted a licence to the Newcastle burgesses to excavate coal from Forth Banks and the Town Moor area. From 1446, shipments of coal from North Shields were permitted, but in 1530 a royal act confined all shipments of coal to Newcastle quayside, thereby giving
612-475: The Newcastle burgesses the monopoly they desired. This reinforced a medieval monopoly granted by Henry I, which was still in place. Prior to the Reformation , most of the north-eastern coal deposits were in the hands of the monasteries . The monasteries leased out land for mining but generally set limits on the rate of extraction so as to keep the price high. This meant that the production of coal stayed at
648-665: The North East, were Harry Clasper , Robert Chambers and James Renforth . Clasper was a champion rower in fours, as well as an innovative boat designer and a successful rowing coach. Chambers and Renforth were oarsmen who excelled at sculling . Both held the World Sculling Championship at different times. The popularity of all three men was such that when they died, many thousands attended their funeral processions, and magnificent funeral monuments were provided by popular subscription in all three cases. At
684-427: The Tyne river to prevent them exporting coal, cutting supplies to London. To ease this situation Parliament encouraged the export of coal from Blyth and from Wearside , but not enough coal was available from those sources to replace that shipped from Newcastle. In October 1644, Scottish troops captured Newcastle after an eight month siege, then occupied Northumberland and Durham for two years, levying taxes from
720-493: The United Kingdom . In 2013, the estimated population was 832,469. Politically, the area is mainly covered by the metropolitan boroughs of Newcastle-upon-Tyne , Gateshead , North Tyneside and South Tyneside . The boroughs on the Tyne are joint with Wearside which is in both the ceremonial counties of Durham ( Chester-le-Street ) and Tyne and Wear . The ONS 2011 census had 774,891 census respondents inside
756-677: The anti-royalist London merchants encouraged the invading Scots to capture Newcastle. This they did in 1640, totally disrupting the export of coal. The Scottish army remained in Newcastle for a year and charged the Corporation a regular fee for billeting its troops. When the First English Civil War began in August 1642, most of the Newcastle burgesses sided with the Royalists and in 1644 Parliamentarian forces blockaded
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#1732787356388792-457: The big money was made in challenge races, in which scullers or boat crews would challenge each other to a race over a set distance for a side stake. The crews would usually have backers, who would put up the stake money, as they saw the chance of financial gain from the race. In the days before mass attendances at football matches, races on the river were enormously popular, with tens of thousands attending. Betting would go on both before and during
828-436: The bishopric of Durham. This would have allowed the Newcastle burgesses to mine for coal on Gateshead land. The plan was foiled by the death of Edward and the downfall of Dudley. The Newcastle burgesses made a similar attempt in 1576 during the reign of Elizabeth I but were opposed by the queen's privy council. Towards the end of the 16th century, the Hostmen began to buy up leases in the Tyneside coalfield until they soon had
864-420: The coal producers and those who shipped the coal to London and elsewhere were forced to deal. From the time in the mid-13th century when coal began to be exported from the River Tyne , the burgesses of Newcastle tried to gain a monopoly over its export. In 1216, King John granted Newcastle the right to elect a mayor and also to form trade guilds. These guilds sought to ensure that trade in various commodities
900-546: The coal production increased to such an extent that non-Hostmen businessmen were drawn in. This seriously weakened the strength of the Hostmen and they would never again have such a stranglehold on the north-east coal trade. The following is a list of governors from 1600 to 1800 . In 1901 the Surtees Society published Extracts from the Records of the Company of Hostmen of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne , ed. F.W. Dendy, with
936-763: The coal trade to pay their costs. After the Second English Civil War ended in 1648, the Royalist burgesses were replaced by Parliamentarian sympathisers who proved just as anxious to maintain Newcastle's trading monopoly as their predecessors. In 1655, Ralph Gardiner of Chirton accused the Corporation of "tyranny and oppression" after he was imprisoned for contravening the monopoly of the Bakers and Brewers Company of Newcastle by brewing in North Shields, and unsuccessfully petitioned Parliament to abolish
972-399: The coal trade was concerned, because collier brigs could be loaded with coal on the Tyne and could sail down the east coast to London. In fact, the burgesses of Newcastle formed a cartel, and were known as the Hostmen . The Hostmen were able gain a monopoly over all of the coal exported from Tyneside, a monopoly which lasted a considerable time. A well-known group of workers on the river were
1008-503: The end of the 19th century professional competitive rowing on the Tyne began a gradual decline and would die out entirely leaving the amateur version. Despite its rapid growth in the Industrial Revolution , Tyneside developed one peculiar local custom, the rapper sword dance, which later spread to neighbouring areas of Northumberland and County Durham. During the 1970s and 1980s, there was major industrial decline in
1044-424: The lord mayor of London complained that the regulation of coal exports from the Tyne was unfairly raising prices. In 1600 the Company of Hostmen was incorporated through a charter granted by Elizabeth I. This gave them exclusive rights to trade coal in the Tyne in return for a one- shilling tax on every chaldron (wagonload) of coal shipped from the Tyne. The charter allowed an exclusive body of electors, in practice
1080-404: The most valuable local commodity. As with other traded items, coal could only move through the city of Newcastle if its buying and selling were handled by the town's burgesses. The Hostmen had formed a group within the Company of Merchant Adventurers of Newcastle to exploit this monopoly. In practice, the Hostmen owned the "keels", large boats that were used to transfer the coal from the riverbank to
1116-539: The people of Newcastle declared their allegiance to the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, George I and George II ; whereas the rest of the county of Northumberland , to the north, stood loyal to James Francis Edward Stuart . While Newcastle upon Tyne had been an important local centre since Roman times, and was a major local market town from the Middle Ages, the development of Newcastle and Tyneside
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1152-676: The regulations forcing traders to deal through Newcastle. The Civil War had allowed the River Wear to emerge as a competitor of the Tyne for coal exports. By 1660 the Tyne coal trade had recovered but was now only a third greater than the Wearside production. At this time the Newcastle Hostmen clashed with the Sunderland coal traders by claiming their charter rights and imposing a shilling tax on all coals exported from Sunderland. The Newcastle monopoly continued until between 1700 and 1750
1188-413: The then village of Shotley Bridge , near Consett . The combination of coal and steel industries in the area was the catalyst for further major industrial development in the 19th century, including the shipbuilding industry; at its peak, the Tyneside shipyards were one of the largest centres of shipbuilding in the world and built an entire navy for Japan in the first decade of the 20th century. There
1224-408: The traditional British heavy industries , and Tyneside was hit hard. High unemployment rates and the national [Thatcher] government's resolve to push through with economic transformation led to great social unrest with strikes and occasional rioting in depressed areas. From the late 1980s onward, an improving national economy and local regeneration helped the area to recover, and although unemployment
1260-489: The waiting colliers that were moored downstream. The men who worked these boats were known as " keelmen ". The keelmen led a very precarious existence, being paid casually, and they were regarded with distrust by the Hostmen with whom they were often in dispute. In 1553, during the reign of Edward VI , John Dudley , the Duke of Northumberland sponsored an act allowing Newcastle to annex Gateshead and its surrounding area from
1296-472: Was concentrated in Newcastle. The desire of the Newcastle burgesses to monopolise trade on the Tyne led to a dispute with the Prior of Tynemouth regarding the shipment of coal from the nearby settlement of North Shields , which was owned by the priory. In 1267 the mayor of Newcastle, Nicholas Scott attacked North Shields with a band of merchants, setting fire to several buildings. In 1290 the burgesses petitioned
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