More local place names feature in this, the seventh in a series of thirteen articles.
Meadowell: Originally the Ridges Estate, this large council estate was built to the west of North Shields in the 1930s in order to house residents displaced by the Dockwray Square and Low Town slum clearance.
The name is derived from the Meadow Well which was a spring or well situated in an open meadow that formed part of nearby Ridges Farm.
Monkseaton has a long historical past, and dates back to at least the 12th century, when it was simply known as Seton. This is probably a derivative of the words ‘Sea’ and ‘Tun’, i.e. the village being near to the sea, and a tun (or ton), which has a wider definition, i.e. a hill, a rise, a hamlet, a farmstead or an enclosure. When King Henry I granted lands to the Prior of Tynemouth circa 1106, the name became ‘Seton Monachorum’. The prefix ‘Monk’ is often found in connection with places belonging to religious houses, and so in this case it became Monk Seaton, or Seaton of the Monks.
The name ‘Seaton’ is evident in other local place names which include Seaton Valley, Seaton Delaval and Seaton Terrace, Seaton Sluice, North Seaton, Seaton Carew and Seatonville.
Moor Houses: Murton and New York Villages were once adjoined by Moor House and Philadelphia, which were principally very small hamlets occupied mainly by miners. The name derives from houses that were once situated on Tynemouthshire Moor, otherwise known as Shire Moor.
Moorside is generally classified as the council estate to the south east of Backworth Village. The name is relatively modern, deriving from its close proximity to the former Tynemouthshire Moor.
Murton Village sits on the old outer boundary of Preston Township along with New York Village, and is separated by fields adjoining West Monkseaton and Earsdon. Originally known as Moor Town (from which the name is derived), Murton Village is a township in Tynemouth parish and was once part of Tynemouthshire Moor.
Mussell Scarp is rarely known by this name now, however it is the foreshore to the front of Cliffords Fort, which at low tide once afforded a good beaching ground for the periodical scraping, painting and repair of wooden ships and sailing vessels.
A ‘scarp’ is defined as the inner side of a ditch below the parapet of a fortification (in this case, Cliffords Fort), or a low steep slope along a beach caused by wave erosion.
New Hartley: When the New Hester Pit was first sunk in the 1840s, New Hartley became a significant colliery village in Earsdon Parish from where it developed. Situated almost mid-way between Seaton Sluice and Seaton Delaval the village gained notoriety for the colliery disaster of 1862 which claimed the lives of 204 miners. Hartley Station was the first stop on the Avenue Branch Railway line from Monkseaton.
by Charlie Steel © 2015
Further reading for many of Charlie’s articles can be found in his books: ‘Monkseaton Village’ (Vol. 1 & 2), North Shields Public Houses, Inns & Taverns’ (Part 1 & 2) and ‘Tynemouth Remembered’ all published by Summerhill Books.
More information on www.monkseaton.info and on the Monkseaton Village Facebook Page.