The Changing Face of Bonnersfield and Sheepfolds Area of Monkwearmouth

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1 The Changing Face of Bonnersfield and Sheepfolds Area of Monkwearmouth What was the origin of these names? They were obviously rural and farming related but by the 18 th century the land was becoming industrialised. According to an 1858 Directory of Sunderland there are memorial tablets to members of the Bonner family in St. Peter s Church, Monkwearmouth. Maybe they were owners of the land at one time. Another source refers to John Bonner ( ). John was a Freemason, who was described as a carpenter, and was in charge of the construction of the Phoenix or King George Lodge for the order. The Freemasons had met in various East End pubs before building a hall on Vine Street which was damaged by fire in John rebuilt the hall as an almost identical copy of the original. Bonner also had a timber raff or yard in the area known as Bonnersfield. The raff is described as having a large house with tiled roof and two chimneys. The Freemasons were involved in the construction of the first Wearmouth Bridge which was completed in On the north bank of the river, the land to the east of the bridge is Bonnersfield and to the west, Sheepfolds. Bonnersfield and Sheepfolds 1851 By 1790 the Stafford Abbs Brewery was operating on Bonnersfield. John Stafford and Cooper Abbs founded the Monkwearmouth Brewery and Maltings. It was close to the river, and appears on Raine s Plan of 1790 and the 1817 and 1850 Robson maps of the area. The lower part of Bonnersfield became known as Brewery Bank. The business was bought by James Deuchar in 1890 and closed in The premises were converted to a mineral water factory. In the 1850 s and early 1860 s my great great grandfather, Joseph Graham, had a timber yard immediately to the east of the Bridge on part of Bonnersfield near the brewery. The Monkwearmouth voters list for the period confirms this and his residences at Hallgarth Square, Hamilton Street and Millum Terrace at various times during these years. He was the first to supply Robert Thompson with timber when he started his own shipbuilding business in the mid 1850 s according to a family letter written by his grandson. Joseph eventually suffered a major business loss and as a result sold the yard. 1

2 Joseph may have sold his yard to J.W. Wilson and Sons who had a saw mill and timber yard on the same site for many years. It is recorded that Wilsons operated a steam mill and smithy on Bonnersfield in The yard was the site of a large fire in December By 1890 the site covered almost 2 acres when a second fire broke out which gutted the whole yard which contained huge amounts of timber. Damage was estimated at 18,000 20,000. The yard was rebuilt and business continued until the early 1960 s. The chimneys were demolished in The timber yard can be seen in many images of Wearmouth Bridge sketch of fire at Wilson's Timber Yard More recently the waterfront was part of the extended North Sands Shipbuilding yard. The last launch was in May 1979 and the buildings were demolished in The picture below shows part of Bonnersfield from the south bank of the Wear. The timber yard is in the foreground. Behind are the Bromarsh and the spire of the Scotch Church on North Bridge Street. To the left is the Monkwearmouth and Sunderland Savings Bank building at the end of Sheepfolds Road together with the Aquatic Arms and Royal Hotel. 2

3 William Mills was born 1856 in Southwick. He was apprenticed to George Clarke, marine Engineer and on completing his indentures he spent seven years at sea. During this time he designed equipment which allowed ship s lifeboats to be launched easily and safely. He was awarded a gold medal by the Mercantile Marine Service in recognition of his design which saved many lives. He started his own business as a general engineer in 1885 and established an aluminium foundry known as the Atlas Works in Bonnersfield. It was reputed to be the first works of its kind in the U.K. Mills was a keen golfer. He developed and patented some of the earliest aluminium golf clubs, using what he called metallic golfing instrument heads. I believe that one of them was the well known Mills putter. Later, William Mills opened a second factory in Birmingham where he produced the Mills Bomb, a hand grenade which was used by the British Army from Mills was knighted in 1922 and died in 1932 in Weston Super Mare. Before Mills established the Atlas Works, the Monkwearmouth Iron Works founded by James Walkinshaw in about 1847 were operating in Bonnersfield. In the late 1850 s these became Tyzacks Iron Company. Sir William Mills St Stephen s Presbyterian Chapel stood at the northern end of Monkwearmouth Bridge on the corner of Bonnersfield, opposite Sheepfolds. It was built in the 1820 s at a cost of 3,000. It ceased to be a church in George Black was born in Newcastle in 1857 but by 1861 the family were living at Ravensworth Street, Sunderland. His father was a druggist. For many years George Black worked in theatres in Manchester and Birmingham. He bought the old St Stephen s Chapel and exhibited his huge waxworks collection there when it was not touring the country. As an added attraction he showed moving pictures, with the audience seated in the pews. By various times the cinema was called Blacks Picture Palace and The Monkwearmouth Picture Hall. When George died in 1912 he owned 12 cinemas in the North East which were operated by his sons. In 1916 the name was changed to The Bridge Cinema. It was sold to the Marshall Brothers in 1919 and they renamed it The Bromarsh. It remained a cinema until 1943 and a public air raid shelter was opened in the basement of the building in World War II. During one of the last major air raids on North East England on the night of the 23/24 th May 1943 tons of bombs fell on the town and damage was widespread. 83 people died and 222 were injured. Three public shelters were hit in this raid, Lodge Terrace in Hendon, Bonnersfield Shelter and The Bromarsh. Three people died in the Bromarsh and there were seven casualties in Bonnersfield. The Humble family were in Bonnersfield shelter that night. Parents Bert and Elizabeth escaped but five of their children Jean (aged 2), Doris (3), Frederick (7), Marjorie (8) and Mildred (16) were killed along with Ellen Morgan and John Thomas Murtha. 3

4 My father s family home was just opposite the Bromarsh at 26 Sheepfolds Road. My cousin, Anne, who lives in Surrey, was six at the time and wrote the following. The cinema (Bromarsh) took a direct hit. The next time we went north some of my friends were not there any more. My Aunt Mattie was one of those who went to help and she was handed a neighbour s little girl. She had no injuries at all and my aunt thought that she was just unconscious, but she was dead. My Aunt said it was as if the blast had just blown the life out of the child. The house that Martha Graham, great grand daughter of the timber merchant, her mother and brothers lived in was part of the block of properties eventually all owned by the Newcastle Breweries. The Aquatic Arms was on the corner of Bridge Street and Sheepfolds with number 26 Sheepfolds Road squeezed in between it and the railway viaduct. The rest of the block was the Royal Hotel and Brewery offices. The Royal Hotel was number 1, North Bridge Street and in 1881 the owner was Thomas Bell. The hotel must have had rooms suitable for large gatherings as the inquest for the Monkwearmouth victims of the Victoria Hall disaster was held there in The coroner heard evidence and questioned many witness including the hall keeper. His name was Frederick Graham and he was the son of Joseph Graham, previously mentioned. Number 26 was a tied house. My grandmother, Emma, had taken the job of caretaker and cleaner of the Newcastle Brewery offices after her husband died in 1920 due to mustard gas poisoning in World War I. The offices were filled with dark mahogany Victorian desks and counters and behind them and the Royal Hotel was a yard. It had access to the arches under the railway viaduct which were used for storage and I remember horse and carts loading up there. I think there may have been some stabling in one of the arches. Mattie took on the caretaker job after the death of her mother in 1951 and lived there with her husband until her death in the Among all the industrial building of this area were the homes of many ordinary Wearsiders. Occupations recorded in the census returns show employment in the shipyards, iron foundries and many other local industries as well as many sailors families A cousin who had grown up in Scotland came to study at the Technical College and lived with Auntie Mattie while he was a student. He was involved with Rag Week and the organisers wanted a banner placed in a prominent position as a stunt. At the side of the house was a small window at the height of the viaduct parapet and about two or three feet away. It was quite possible to reach the bridge from inside. My cousin climbed out in the middle of the night and the next day the banner was on display in the middle section of the railway bridge for all to see. I remember the speculation and fuss about how it had got there. We kept quiet! Railway behind the Royal Hotel with Sheepfolds Road house immediately to left of tracks 4

5 Like most areas of Sunderland the old heavy industries of Bonnersfield have gone. In their place stand flats. The block formerly owned by Newcastle Breweries at the top of Sheepfolds Road has been demolished and the site is now occupied by St. Peter s Metro Station. There is grass growing on the river bank and people walk up the river side paths. To some extent Bonnersfield is returning to what it was in the early 18 th century, open green space, which is now used for leisure activities instead of agriculture. Margaret Hartford. 5