Brickfield. Davison lists Low Southwick Brick and Tileworks, Pratt's yard at NZ 379 583. 1828-1897. Could be same as 2757, 2768, 2769 or 2770.

Bleach Yard.

Bottle Works. The 1st edition OS mapping seems to show four Kilns on the site {1}. Glass had been manufactured in Southwick since 1698 when the Suddick Glasshouse was opened. Many Europeans came to the North East of England and brought with them the secrets of glassmaking. The ballast material brought to the Tyne and Wear by ships taking coal away, provided many of the raw materials for the industry. Consequently there was a thriving glass and bottle industry on Wearside for over 200 years. Among the most important sites were the Wearmouth Crown Glass Works, started in 1786 (SMR 2772) and the Southwick Bottleworks, dating from 1846. Glassmaking fell into deep decline in the depression of the 1880s and the following decades. The bottleworks finally closed in 1917, by which time only shipbuilding survived of the major industries which had made Southwick a prosperous Victorian town {2}.

The Old Limekilns, on Ballast Hill, (SMR 2760). Marked as Old on the 1st edition OS mapping so probably out of use by 1855 {1}. Lime had been created at the riverside since the 18th century. Magnesian limestone was hewn from nearby quarries and carried to the kilns on wagonways. Coal was brought by boat along the river and hauled up the bank to the mouths of the kilns. Although the last kilns worked here at the turn of the century, their remains can still be seen in the embankment today {2}.

Southwick Pottery. It was new in 1753 let to a Thomas Hall. This was Sunderland's largest pottery, owned by the Scott family who worked it from 1788-1896.

A Shipyard with patent slip {1}. John Candlish set up a timber shipbuilding yard with a patent slipway for repairs on the northern bank of the River Wear at Southwick some time before 1850. In 1854, the yard was bought by Robert Thompson junior for the Thompson family’s North Shore Yard). The first ship built by Thompson was the Graces, launched in 1855. The Southwick Yard was responsible for a further 21 wooden ships before a conversion to composite iron and timber construction in 1865 (the first of these vessels was the Southwick). By 1868, the yard was constructing completely iron vessels, unusually early for the Wear. The first iron tramp steamer constructed by the yard was the SS Canadian in 1870; it was the first of many.
The yard became Robert Thompson & Sons in 1881 when Thompson took two of his sons on as partners. In the same year, the yard launched 12 vessels from its four berths, placing it third in order of annual output on the Wear. In 1901, the yard was extended and updated and the business became a limited liability company in 1906. Robert Thompson died in 1910.
The yard produced 10 ships (all tramps) during WW1 as well as two patrol vessels and nine barges for the Admiralty. Twenty eight further tramps were then completed between 1920 and the closure of the yard in 1930, the last of these was the SS Harmonic for J & C Harrison of London.
The yard re-opened in 1931 to build two trawlers. These were the last of a total of 341 vessels produced by the Southwick Yard. The site was purchased by National Shipbuilders security Ltd. In 1933 and demolished.
Map Evidence
First Edition Twenty Five inches to one mile Ordnance Survey 1857, Sheet VIII.10
A shipbuilding yard is shown on the northern bank of the River Wear immediately to the south of the settlement of Southwick. The Southwick Pottery lies immediately to the west with a small saw mill to the east. There is a broad entry into the yard from Scott’s Bank to the north. Laing’s Deptford ship yard lies across the river to the south. The yard contains a patent repair slip (with a windlass located on its western end), running nearly parallel with the course of the river and launching downstream. Other features include three cranes along the riverside and a sawpit. Two ranges of buildings flank the yard to the north; whether they were a part of the yard is uncertain.
Second Edition Six inches to One Mile Ordnance Survey 1898, Sheet VIII.SW
There has been considerable change in the yard. The patent slipway has now gone, replaced by a graving dock in a similar position but at a more acute angle to the river. The riverside to the east of the graving dock appears to have been consolidated and to have advanced over mudflats. Southwick Pottery is still in use but the sawmill to the east has gone replaced with a more substantial structure, almost certainly a part of the shipyard.
Third Edition Ordnance Survey 1921, Sheet VIII.SW
Little notable change in the form of the yard. Southwick Pottery to the west has now closed. The graving dock is named ‘Cornhill Dock’ {2}.

Wear Saw Mill.

The Wear Steam Mill. The 1st edition OS mapping does not give its function.

Ballast Hills. The 1st edition OS mapping shows The Old Limekilns, (SMR 2765), built on this area.

The Wear Pottery, at Southwick, was also known as Southwick Union or Moore's Pottery. This was working from 1753-1882.