Where Ships were Born - Sunderland, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 54° 54.543 W 001° 22.853
30U E 603801 N 6085870
This slightly vandalised stand alone information board is in the area of Pann's Bank and gives information about the past industry of the area.
Waymark Code: WM19PGB
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/27/2024
Views: 0
It is one of a number of information boards and blue plaques that give details of the history near to Waermouth Road Bridge.
The board is halfway down the road called Panns Bank that leads down from the south east end of Wearmouth road bridge to the southern bank of the river Wear.
As well as information the board has a photograph taken from the river level towards the bridge itself, showing the bridge crossing the river.
Next to the board is a silhouette of a typical worker of the area. To see it at its best you have to stand back from the board and to the left.
Pann's Bank
Where ships were born
Ever since the 18th century, ship building has been synonymous with Sunderland. Known once as the 'largest shipbuilding town in the world'. Its humble beginnings started with Thomas Menville's shipyard in Hendon in 1346.
Thomas Menville was the first merchant to start building ships at Wearmouth in 1346. Demands for wooden ships grew enormously during the Napoleonic Wars and by 1814 there were over 20 active shipyards, 4 dry docks, four floating docks and five boatbuilders' houses and yards. The south side of the harbour hosted three with two on the north side. By 1840 76 shipyards operated her.
Before the introduction of cast iron, bridges had to be a single span construction to allow masted ships to pass underneath. As no stone bridge was able to span this point in the river Wear Hendon Dock Junction Bridge became the world's first aluminium bascule bridge (a moveable bridge balanced by a counterweight).
In 1589 Sunderland also produced salt. Large vats of seas water were heated using coal. As water evaporated the salt remained.
The process known as salt panning, gave its name to Bishopwearmouth Panns Bank, the region between the city centre and the East End.
As a place of intrigue, mystery and menace the East End once echoed with the sounds of heroic characters and dastardly deeds. Smugglers murderers and the great and the good all called these shipyards, wharves and alleys home.
The Wearmouth Bridge spanned in 1796 with the foundation stones having been laid in in September 1783. A plaque on the north west end of the current bridge states that construction "proved to be a catalyst for the growth at Sunderlandsince access between Monkwearmouth and Bishopwearmouth had been previously only been by ferry.
Peggy Potts hoodwinked a customs officer by replacing the illegal alcohol she had in a keg with her own urine!
Learn more about Sunderland ship building heritage by visiting Keel Square. The East End played a significant role in the industrialisation of the city. Lime, rope, glass, pottery mining and coal expanded shipbuilding opportunities.
Keel Square mentioned in the last paragraph has a line of inscribed stones in the ground that cross the square and list all the ships built in Sunderland, recorded in date order.