Hetton Drops, the northern terminus of the Hetton Company Railway, (HER 2850), which opened in the early 1820s. On Thomas Robson's map of 1827, "Hetton Staiths" are shown with a coal depot building an engine house and an incline. The railway infrastructure was remodelling between 1865 and 1896, when a series of ramped terraces and sidings were built to more easily transport coal tubs from the railway to the colliers in the river, replacing the static engine and incline. By 1911 the Hetton and Lambton drops had combined and were being run as a single operation. There is a water colour painting of the drops in the 1930s. The coal staiths fell out of use in the 1960s and their attendant railway networks dismantled in 1967. Elements of the transhipment facilities remained in situ until parts of the riverbank were reclaimed and landscaped to create Sunderland's Riverside Park in 1972.

Ayres Quay Company Bottle Works. Opened in 1696 by the Company of Glass Owners of Sunderland to produce bottles and, until circa 1819, broad window glass. Closed in 1880. Shown as "Ayres Quay Glass Houses" on John Bell's plan of 1801.

The Ballast Hills Company's Bottle Works. The works opened circa 1800, in 1820 they were being run by T. Bonner and Company and from 1821 by Laing, Horn and Scott and Company. It closed in 1923 and was incorporated into Laings Shipyard.

Wood’s plan of 1827 does not show any shipyards in the area, so it can probably be assumed that shipyards were only set up on the north-eastern edge of the Deptford peninsula in the Wear between that time and the preparation of the 1855 First Edition Survey which shows shipyards in the area. It is uncertain who owned these yards at this time.
The yards were subsumed within Laing’s Deptford Yard (SMR No. 2803) by the end of the nineteenth century.
Map Evidence
John Wood 1827, Plan of the Town of Sunderland
Wood’s survey does not indicate the presence of shipyards in the area.
First Edition Twenty Five Inches to One Mile Ordnance Survey 1855, Sheet VIII.10
The site is annotated ‘Ship Building Yards’ and probably contained two yards, although it is difficult to define where the internal yard boundaries lie. There are two sawpits, three cranes and two smithies (normal facilities associated with timber construction), along with a number of other buildings, the functions of which are not mentioned. There is no indication of patent slips or berths or dry docks within the yards.
Second Edition Six Inches to One Mile Ordnance Survey 1898, Sheet VIII.SW
By this time the yards had been subsumed within Laing’s Yard (SMR No. 2803) {2}.

A major tidal dock was constructed on the south bank of the Deptford meander in the River Wear some time between John Wood’s survey of the area in 1826 (which annotates the area which would become the dock as ‘Salt Grass’) and the First Edition Ordnance Survey of 1855. As shown on the 1855 survey the dock with regular, presumably walled, edges, runs longitudinally down the ‘peninsula’, with cranes regularly spaced on the broad quays to east and west. The discrete Ayres Quay lies on the southern edge of the dock. Businesses surrounding the dock included timber yards, shipbuilding yards, a brass foundry, an iron works and two glass works: the requirement for the dock was obvious. By the end of the century, however, the facility had gone, levelled by the expanding Laing’s ship building yard which took over most of the northern portion of the ‘peninsula’.
Map Evidence
First Edition Twenty Five Inches to One Mile Ordnance Survey 1857, Sheet VIII.10
A large tidal dock with a broad entrance opens out on to the southern shore (mud flats) of the Deptford loop in the River Wear. The plan of the dock is regular (presumably walled) but with a slight dog-leg in the western side. Cranes are positioned around the dock on the broad flanking quays from the north-east to the north-west. The southern side of the dock is described as Ayres Quay.
Second Edition Six Inches to One Mile Ordnance Survey, Sheet VIII.SW
By this time the dock has been subsumed within the expanded Laing’s Deptford Ship Yard. It would appear to have been completely levelled and erased {2}.

Timber Yards.

Wearmouth Paper Mill.

Shipbuilding Yard. The OS 1st edition mapping shows a patent slip, saw pit and smithy within the site {1}. Brothers Philip and John Laing, from Fife in Scotland, had established themselves as shipbuilders on the River Wear by 1793. They operated sequentially from a number of sites until, in 1818, they established themselves on the south bank of the river at Deptford. At about the same time, John left the partnership. In 1843, Philip passed control of the business to his son, James (1823-1901, eventually Sir James Laing). The yard built its first iron ship (the river’s first iron ship, also), the Amity, in 1853 and by 1866 solely wooden construction had been phased out of the yard, although composite iron and timber ships were built until 1875. In 1898, the firm was incorporated as a limited liability company, Sir James Laing & Sons Ltd. Financial difficulties in the years after Sir James’ death in 1901 (he had run the company for 58 years) were overcome when Sir James Marr took over the business in 1909. Part of this renewed success was that Marr’s other business interests along the river provided the yard with business links to other Sunderland shipbuilders, including John Crown & Sons Ltd., Joseph L Thompson & Sons Ltd. and T W Greenwell Co Ltd.
By the end of WW1, over which conflict Laing’s had produced the greatest tonnage of ships on the Wear (109,924 tons; a total of 18 ships), the yard’s facilities included five building berths and a graving dock. Subsequent to the war, and up to1930, the yard produced 20 oil tankers and a number of cargo liners. In 1930, the yard closed and all staff were laid off apart from apprentices. It was only in 1935 that the yard again received firm orders. These were for the construction of cargo vessels through the government’s ‘Scrap and Build’ scheme. Slowly, further orders for cargo vessels, tramps and tankers began to come in.
With another world wide conflict between 1939-45, the yard was again in boom and produced 41 vessels, including 32 tankers. The reputation which Laings had acquired for the construction of tankers during the war, meant that over the succeeding 20 years a further 36 tankers were constructed by the yard, with each new vessel ordered increasing in capacity and dimensions. Despite the emphasis on tankers, the yard still produced cargo liners and ore carriers. Then, from around 1960, the yard began to specialise in the new ‘bulk carrier’ vessels. Construction of these giant vessels required the construction of prefabrication sheds and larger shipbuilding berths at the yard.
Business links between a number of Wear shipyards, previously established by Sir James Marr, were formalised in 1954 when Alan Marr, the then managing director of the yard, helped form Sunderland Shipbuilding, Dry Docks & Engineering Co Ltd., of which Laing’s was one of eight subsidiary organisations. The consortium so formed was acquired by Doxford & Sunderland Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd. in 1961. In 1966, this company absorbed the business of its various subsidiaries and Laing’s independent existence ceased, becoming the Deptford Yard of the group. Over the next ten years, work in the yard concentrated as before on the construction of bulk carriers and included the production of a number of cargo liners and ore-carriers.
The yard was Nationalized in 1977, becoming part of British Shipbuilders. The yard’s work was still primarily the construction of bulk carriers and cargo liners. In 1986, the last ship was built in the yard. Since 1986, the yard’s extensive facilities have been utilized by a number of engineering companies. Currently, the site is occupied by the Heavy Lifting Co. Liebherr.
Map Evidence
John Wood 1827: A Plan of the Town of Sunderland
Wood’s plan only extends westwards across a portion of the Deptford meander of the Wear and only catches the very eastern end of Laing’s Yard (annotated ‘Mr P Laing’), which at this time only extended over the north-western portion of the ‘peninsula’. The plan also shows the eastern end of a tidal dock in the yard, with a stream running through it. It is uncertain what the property on the north- eastern side of the Deptford loop was utilised for at this time; the plan shows two structures with a very small inlet on the eastern flank of the site. The site on the south-east of the loop is taken up by an extensive glass works with a formalised and presumably walled riverside; Ayres Quay.
First Edition Twenty Five Inches to One Mile Ordnance Survey 1855, Sheet VIII.10
The southern shore of the Deptford loop has changed considerably from when Wood’s survey was carried out in the 1820s. The Salt Grass Dock has been inserted transversely down the peninsula (see SMR No. 2804) and shipbuilding yards have been established on the north-eastern side of the loop (see SMR No. 2805). Elsewhere in the immediate vicinity, there are now brass foundries, iron works and a second glass works (the Ballast Hills Co. Bottle Works) has now been set up to the north of that shown on Wood’s plan (now called the Ayres Quay Co. Bottle Works). The north-eastern boundary of Laing’s yard would appear to have moved to the south-west, as the dock shown on Wood’s plan as part of Laing’s yard now seems to lie within the boundary of a paper mill. The shipyard contains a ‘Deptford Patent Slip’, a dry dock, a large smithy, three cranes and a sawpit, as well as two buildings of uncertain use within the south-eastern and eastern boundaries of the yard. Deptford House, built as a family home by Philip Laing, lies within the yard.
Second Edition Six Inches to One Mile Ordnance Survey, Sheet VIII.SW
By this time, Laing’s Yard on the north-western portion of the peninsula has taken over the shipbuilding yards to the east (SMR No. 2805) and one Deptford Yard has been formed which also includes the levelled site of the Salt Grass Dock (SMR No. 2804). Fixtures inside the yard include the graving dock which has been present from at least the middle of the century and a repositioned western slipway which now launches almost directly down river. Two new slips have been constructed at the northern edge of the peninsula. Some substantial structures occupy the southern area of the yard. Deptford House has gone.
Third Edition Six Inches to One Mile Ordnance Survey 1921, Sheet VIII. SW
Rail lines, presumably for travelling cranes, have been added to the survey of the yard. The western and the two northern slipways have been removed. Rail lines to east and west presumably run alongside building berths which are not indicated. A major new structure has been constructed in the eastern portion of the yard and a quay wall constructed on the northern edge of the peninsula, presumably for fitting out work.
Fourth Edition Six Inches to One Mile Ordnance Survey 1938, Sheet VIII.SW
No amendments have been made to update the survey for Laing’s yard {2}.

Saw Mill. The location of which is unclear from the 1st edition OS mapping, but probably lay within 100m radius of this grid reference.

Deptford Patent Ropery/Webster's Ropery. Probably the region's oldest factory building and the earliest patent ropery. It was opened in 1797 by Grimshaw Webster and Company in a four storey building and used the Fothergill Process patented in 1793. It is now a restaurant and is listed {3}. Webster's Ropery in Deptford survives as the oldest factory building in Sunderland, built in approximately 1797. It housed the first steam engine known to have been installed in a ropeworks {4}. It is a four storey dressed stone structure of impressive dimensions. According to Surtees (History of Durham, published c.1812) and G. Garbutt (History of Sunderland, published 1819) the firm of Grimshaw Webster and Company opened a ropeworks at Deptford in 1797 in a four storey building of 100 by 30ft. It is thought to be the world's first Patent Ropeworks (i.e. not having a rope walk). Although the interior has been substantially altered, it has been suggested that the cast iron window frames are probably original {5}.