History of Hebburn
Hebburn is a small town located on the south bank of the River Tyne in the North East of England, and is now partitioned into 3 areas Colliery, Quay and New Town. Each of the three areas has their own identities with their own schools and communities. Hebburn has a population of 30,000, with the main source of employment being mining, shipbuilding and heavy engineering.
It is thought that Hebburn received its name from the Anglo Saxon terms, ‘heah' meaning high, and ‘brygen' meaning a burying place, although it could also mean the high place beside the water.
The first human activity in Hebburn was supposed to be a settlement of fisherman's huts, which was in the 8th century, which was later burnt by the Vikings.
Hebburn became industrialized in the 18 th – 20 th centuries; this was largely due to its riverside location and its accessibility to coal. In 1792 Hebburn Colliery opened, and the coal mining industry came into large scale exploitation. However, after the strike in 1832 Hebburn Colliery never re-opened.
1853 was to be a huge milestone for Hebburn, as it was the arrival of shipbuilding. When Andrew Leslie arrived in Hebburn, and became much more than an industrialist. He built homes for his workers, schools for their children and largely funded St Andrew's Church, which opened in 1873.
Industrialization also led to the increasing growth of the population, which meant the development of public buildings such as schools and churches. So the reason for Hebburn cemetery and the Carr-Ellison Park was because of the increasing population. By 1901 the population of Hebburn had grown to 21,000, due to immigrants from Scotland and later Ireland.
With the expansion of the industrial town based on shipbuilding, coal mining and engineering, and a community from a wide variety of cultures, inherited its new status in 1894 as an Urban District.
- In 1816 Sir Humphry Davy, inventor of the Davy lamp, developed his lamp at Hebburn Hall and then tested it at Hebburn Colliery.
- The HMS Kelly was built at Hawthorn Leslies Shipyard, and there is also a memoriam, in Hebburn cemetery, to the captain of the HMS Kelly after his death in 1979.
- The scenes of the Ferrying landing, betting shop and a café, in the 1971 film Get Carter, which starred Michael Caine were all shots from Hebburn.
- A pop video was also shot at Hebburn Reyrolle Parsons Testing Station, who starred Gary Numan.
