Ballast Hills, probably related to the adjacent Hebburn Colliery C Pit (HER 2228). Many ships coming to the Tyne to load coal entered the river 'light' or 'in ballast'. This means that no cargo was being carried. In the absence of cargo, the ballast gives the vessel stability. Ships returning from London coal voyages often carried shingle or chalk as ballast. Sand and other materials were also used. Over the centuries, great hills of ballast grew along both banks of the Tyne. There were substantial ballast hills near Bill Point Walker, Willington Quay, Hebburn, Jarrow and North and South Shields. Ships were charged fees to unload their ballast. By the early 1820s this was about 20p per ton. To avoid the fee some masters resorted to the dangerous act of discharging ballast before entering harbour. One estimate suggests that some 20% of all imported ballast ended up in the river, risking the Tyne silting up.

Reservoir.

Hebburn Colliery, C Pit, was connected to the staiths at Hebburn (HER 2234, 2238) by the C Pit wagonway (HER 2231).

Hebburn Shipbuilding Yard. This was opened by R.W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company Ltd in 1853. The second edition OS mapping shows that this yard had expanded, as compared with its depiction on the first edition and it was named Hebburn Shipbuilding Yard. Initially the yard produced cargo liners and paddle steamers, including the twin hulled Calais-Douvres. 104 merchant ships were built in the period 1898-1918. The yard began producing warships in 1895 and was refitted from 1902-1912, with new berths, slips and cranes. During World War One and World War Two the output of the yard was a mixture of warships and merchant vessels, including the Aircraft Carrier Triumph in 1946. Post-war production was again a mixture of merchant and naval craft with pioneering work on liquified gas tankers. The yard was nationalised in 1977 and put on a "care and maintenance" basis in November 1982 {1}.
An iron shipbuilding yard and boiler works was opened in 1853 by the Scot Andrew Leslie in partnership with Coutts, on an open piece of ground at Hebburn. The partnership soon dissolved and Leslie became sole owner of the yard which had few facilities for many years although was soon employing over 200 staff. The first vessel produced at the yard was the merchant ship Clarendon of 1000 tons. A close connection was maintained with the Holts Line of Liverpool; Leslie’s building the Copernicus in 1861 and numerous other of their ships subsequently. During the 1860s, the yard was rescued from financial difficulties by Thomas Coote, who put at least £13,500 into the business which resulted in an upturn in fortunes for the yard. Towards the end of the decade, the yard built two notable paddle steamers; the Duke of Sutherland and the cross-channel steamer Calais Douvres (the latter twin-hulled, with paddles between the hulls). By the time of Leslie's retirement in 1885, the yard had produced 255 ships, totalling more than 300,000 tons. In 1886, the yard was merged with Hawthorns, becoming Hawthorn-Leslie and Co. Ltd. Hawthorn-Leslie's first successful naval order was for the construction of the cruiser HMS Bellona (on which they lost significant amounts of cash), launched in 1890, followed by a run of five torpedo boats in the mid to late 1890s. The construction of torpedo boats was succeeded by orders for torpedo boat destroyers over the late 1890s and the 1900s, the later vessels of this series of TBD orders were fitted with Parsons steam turbines.
Between 1902 and 1912, the yard was refitted with new berths, slips and cranes and over the First and Second World Wars a mixture of merchant and naval vessels were constructed. The most famous naval vessel was probably the Destroyer HMS Kelly (captained by Lord Louis Mountbatten and the subject of the wartime film 'In Which we Serve' which was sunk off Crete in 1941 after being extensively repaired subsequent to torpedo attack in the north sea in 1940. In 1944, the aircraft carrier HMS Triumph was launched. There was subsequent pioneering work in the yard on liquified gas tankers.
In 1968, the yard became a part of Swan Hunter and Tyne Shipbuilders Ltd. and in 1977 was nationalized as a member company of British Shipbuilders. In 1979, the company merged with George Clark and NEM to form Clark Hawthorn. The yard was put on a 'care and maintenance' basis in 1982 and reopened by Cammel Lairds in the 1990s. Went into receivership in Summer 2001 {2}. By 1864 Andrew Leslie had built 300 houses for his workers. St Andrew's Presbyterian Church built in 1875 for about £15,000 was largely financed by Leslie as one of a number of community facilities provided by the yard owner {5}.
The western part of the yard was subject to historic building recording by Archaeological Research Services in 2022 prior to redevelopment, when the remaining buildings were in a ruinous state and could not be accessed.

Between the works of Hawthorns (HER 2227) and United Alkali (HER 2503) is one of the Tyne's ballast hills, artificial mounds created by the discharge of ballast from inward bound colliers. Many ships coming to the Tyne to load coal entered the river 'light' or 'in ballast'. This means that no cargo was being carried. In the absence of cargo, the ballast gives the vessel stability. Ships returning from London coal voyages often carried shingle or chalk as ballast. Sand and other materials were also used. Over the centuries, great hills of ballast grew along both banks of the Tyne. There were substantial ballast hills near Bill Point Walker, Willington Quay, Hebburn, Jarrow and North and South Shields. Ships were charged fees to unload their ballast. By the early 1820s this was about 20p per ton. To avoid the fee some masters resorted to the dangerous act of discharging ballast before entering harbour. One estimate suggests that some 20% of all imported ballast ended up in the river, risking the Tyne silting up.

The 1st edition OS 6" mapping of 1856 shows what may have been 4 batteries of coke ovens. The 2nd edition OS map shows a Lead Works on this site (SMR 2507), so the ovens must have been out of use by 1895.

Blacking Manufactory. The 2nd edition OS mapping shows the site to be occupied by a Portland Cement Works, (SMR 2506) so these works must have been closed by 1895.

Firebrick Manufactory. 1861
Source: Davison, P J, 1986. Brickworks of the North East, 122 site 17.

The Ouston and Pelaw Wagonway split into four branches north of NZ 3000 6333 to go to a number of named staiths (SMR 2218, 2219, 2220, 2221). The branches to Urpeth and Eighton Moor Staiths, (SMRs 2218, 2219) are shown as inclined planes on the mapping of the OS 2nd edition. The wagonway was opened between 1800 and 1812. The relationship of this line to the Pelaw Main and Team Colliery wagonways is unclear.

The Pelaw Main Staiths were served by wagonway HER 2222. Gateshead Library has some great photographs of the staiths (e.g. GL003887).