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Cullercoats

CULLERCOATS, a township, in the parish and union of Tynemouth, E. division of Castle ward, S. division of the county of Northumberland, 2 miles (N. by W.) from Tynemouth; containing 738 inhabitants. This is a small sea-port, artificially constructed, inhabited chiefly by fishermen, and remarkable for being, perhaps, the smallest township and manor in England, not extending further than the village and a plot of adjoining ground, and the whole of the land, exclusive of that covered by houses, not exceeding seven acres. It is a mesne manor, and is included in the parliamentary borough of Tynemouth. In the bathing season the village is much frequented; the beach is a firm sand, and suitable accommodation is afforded by lodging houses for visiters. A school is used on Sundays as a place of worship by dissenters: there is a small burial-ground belonging to the Society of Friends.

Extract from: A Topographical Dictionary of England comprising the several counties, cities, boroughs, corporate and market towns, parishes, and townships..... 7th Edition, by Samuel Lewis, London, 1848.

Cullercoats village was founded in 1539. Historically the village depended on fishing; there was also local coal mining in so-called bell pits. The coal was used to fire salt pans (now long gone) on the field now known as the boat field. As a port, Cullercoats was used to export both salt and coal. A new harbour and pier were constructed in 1682 and a waggonway which brought coal to the village from inland workings was added in 1690. These innovations resulted in a flourishing trade. However, the salt industry declined and the growth of the railways led to coal shipments being relocated to better harbours. By 1710 the pier had been severely damaged and the waggonway's condition had deteriorated. The last salt pans moved to Blyth in 1726. This left fishing as the main industry and two piers were built on either side of the harbour in the 19th century to provide shelter for the many open top fishing vessels, or cobles, launched from the harbour.

The harbour is the home of the Dove Marine Laboratory of 1897, a research and teaching laboratory which forms part of the School of Marine Science and Technology within Newcastle University.

In 1848, a coble taking a pilot to a ship further out at sea capsized with the loss of all on board. In response to this disaster the local landowner, the Duke of Northumberland funded the setting up of an RNLI lifeboat station. The following year a second disaster, this time costing 20 lifeboat crew their lives, prompted the Duke to sponsor a competition to design a self-righting lifeboat. The resulting boat, the Percy was built at the Duke's expense and delivered to Cullercoats in 1852. The Brigade House and watchtower were designed by Newcastle upon Tyne-based architect Frank West Rich in 1877-79, but the lifeboat station remained in use, with a few minor alterations, until 2003 when a new station was opened.

The Bay Hotel, an important local landmark, was demolished in 2005. It is notable for a period in the 1880s when it was home to the American watercolour artist Winslow Homer who stayed in room 17 of the Hudleston Arms (1870) (later called the Bay Hotel), and maintained a studio across the road at No.12 Bank Top (demolished 1930). Homer was a resident in Cullercoats for approximately 18 months, from late March 1881 to early November 1882. An apartment block, named Winslow Court, has been built on the site of the Bay Hotel (2007).

Homer was the most famous of the professional artists who were part of the "Cullercoats Colony" in the period 1870–1920. Others included Henry H. Emmerson, Robert Jobling, Arthur H. Marsh, Isa Thompson, John Falconer Slater and John Charlton and visitors like Ralph Hedley.

Cullercoats is interesting from an architectural perspective: on Simpson Street there is a row of fishermen's cottages which were preserved during the redevelopment of the village in the 1970s. Between the coast and the railway (now Metro) line are Victorian terraces. The land immediately on the other side consists of long avenues of semi-detached houses built between the wars. Another change can be seen along the line of Broadway where the housing changes again to mixed semi-detached/detached 1970s and 1980s housing estates built around long winding roads and cul-de-sacs. Also of note is St George's Parish Church as a good example of Gothic revival architecture.

The present station was first opened by the North Eastern Railway in 1882, and the original station buildings are still in use, although now for the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Text from Wikipedia, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (accessed: 29/04/2016).
Visit the page: Cullercoats for references and further details. You can contribute to this article on Wikipedia.

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North Tyneside Table Rocks Tynemouth Parish, 1848 1682 Conservation Areas Adamson Memorial Drinking Fountain Church of St George Cliff House Cullercoats at War Cullercoats Library Cullercoats Lifeboat Station Cullercoats Metro Station Cullercoats Primary School Cullercoats Radio Station, Brown's Point Cullercoats Watch House Cullercoats, 1855 Cullercoats, Historical Account, 1890 Dove Marine Laboratory Fishermen's Mission Historical Account of Cullercoats, 1894 Historical Notes on Cullercoats, Whitley and Monkseaton (1893) Map and Aerial View Marden High School Monkhouse Primary School N.E. Co-op, John Street Rocket Garage (Life Brigade House) Sparrow Hall St Mary's R.C. Primary School, Cullercoats

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Cullercoats

Extract from: A Topographical Dictionary of England comprising the several counties, cities, boroughs, corporate and market towns, parishes, and townships..... 7th Edition, by Samuel Lewis, London, 1848.

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

056994:Cullercoats Bay Cullercoats Unknown c.1910

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

024958:Cullercoats Railway Station Cullercoats North Tyneside 1903

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

028112:Fishwives waiting for the boats Cullercoats Unknown c.1900

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

054358:Male Voice Choir Cullercoats unknown c.1910

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

027500:Sorting fish Cullercoats Unknown 1900

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

003331:Fishermen's Cottages Cullercoats c.1905

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

067521:Cullercoats Bay

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

032455:Brown's Buildings Fishermen's Cottages Cullercoats c.1900

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

027637:Esther Wakenshaw Fishwife Cullercoats Unknown 1896

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

Cullercoats Station

from Newcastle University (youtube)

Cullercoats Fish Wives And Holiday Crowds (1933)

from Youtube (youtube)

31b Wreck Cullercoats Storm Bathing Pool Tynemouth 1927

from Youtube (youtube)

Cullercoats 1950

from Youtube (youtube)

The Cullercoats Fishlass (5) The Quayside

from Flickr (flickr)

Cullercoats

from Flickr (flickr)

Cullercoats cottages

from Flickr (flickr)

culercoates

from Flickr (flickr)

Fisherman's Lookout

from Flickr (flickr)

Cullercoats

from Flickr (flickr)

Winslow Homer

from Flickr (flickr)

"Bridge" on Cullercoats beach

from Flickr (flickr)

Cullercoats 2004-1

from Flickr (flickr)

Cullercoats Harbour Day-2

from Flickr (flickr)

Rocket Garage

from Flickr (flickr)

Lookout

from Flickr (flickr)

Cullercoats

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

045659:Cullercoats Fishwives, Tynemouth c.1898

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

045675:Fishwife Cullercoats Unknown c.1898

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

046392:Fisherman Cullercoats Unknown c.1890

from Flickr (flickr)

Image taken from page 48 of 'Illustrated Handbook to the rivers Tyne, Blyth, and Wansbeck, etc'

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

024105:Creels and Barrels Cullercoats Unknown c.1890

from Flickr (flickr)

Sparrow Hall, Cullercoats

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

024106:Discarded mussel shells Cullercoats Unknown c.1890

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

054366:Portrait of a Fisherman Cullercoats Unknown c.1920s

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

054363:John Stocks and Jake Brunton two fishermen Cullercoats Unknown c.1930

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

066519:Pant Cullercoats unknown 1975

Co-Curate Page

Table Rocks - Overview Map Table Rocks are in Whitley Bay immediately north of Brown's Bay, near&nbsp;Cullercoats. Table rocks became a popular tourist attraction at the turn of the 19th/20th century. The rocks …

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

067490:No Title available

from Newcastle libraries (flickr)

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Table Rocks
- Overview Map Table Rocks are in Whitley Bay immediately north of Brown's Bay, near Cullercoats. Table rocks became a popular tourist attraction at the turn of the 19th/20th century. The rocks …

Cullercoats from the South by John Wilson Carmichael
- Public Domain image c/o Wikipedia Commons.