Whitburn, South Tyneside

Whitburn is a village on the coast of North East England, in South Tyneside between Seaburn and Marsden.

Etymology

This Whitburn has a different origin to the one in Lothian: it means "white barn or house " from Old English "hwit" "white" and "bere-ærn" "barn". A record of the name as "Wituberne" in 1182 proves this.

A brief history

Whitburn is listed in the "Boldon Buke" of 1183 as "Whitbern" and was probably a Saxon settlement. It was a fairly undisturbed settlement until 1718 when the Land Enclosure Act came into force and a number of farms were created . The settlement was isolated as no roads connected to it, but there was a path on Sea Lane (now East Street) connecting it to Whitburn Bents, a nearby hamlet. Not until 1866 was a road built over the sandunes to Fulwell, in North Sunderland. In 1874 Marsden Pit was sunk and the community increased dramatically as a result. Whitburn Colliery closed in 1968, and the land is now a coastal park and nature reserve [ [http://website.lineone.net/~d.ord/Whitburn.htm Whitburn ] ] .

Features

Whitburn has retained its village character, with its main street, parish church, cricket ground and park with bowling greens and tennis courts.

It is generally accepted that Lewis Carroll wrote "The Walrus and the Carpenter" while holidaying at his cousins' house in Whitburn [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wear/content/articles/2005/06/29/coast05walks_stage7_walk.shtml BBC - Wear - Coast - Point 7 - The Carroll connection ] ] . A statue of Carroll is in the library [ [http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/bshm/zingaz/W.html British Society for the History of Mathematics ] ] .

South Tyneside Council took ownership of Whitburn Mill in 1960 from the Church Commissioners. The building is listed (Grade 2) as it is considered to be of special architectural and historical importance and is protected therefore by the requirements of the Planning (Listed Building and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.

In 1991/1992 South Tyneside Council undertook a restoration project of the mill for which it was awarded the Civic Trust Award.

There are three schools in Whitburn - Whitburn Primary School, Marsden Primary School and The Church of England Secondary School. Work on a new "super-school" building has begunFact|date=March 2008. Whitburn also has a beach, and fantastic cliffs.

To the north of the village is Whitburn Coastal Park. This recreation area is a popular locality for birdwatchers. A seawatching hide is available to members of the Durham Bird Club, who monitor seabird migration throughout the year. Whitburn is one of the premier sites on the east coast of England for seawatching with notable list of rarities to its name. A good variety of cetaceans are also seen from here, particularly in late summer.

People from Whitburn

* George Farrow - footballer, member of Blackpool's 1953 FA Cup-winning side.

References

External links

* [http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/w010.htm History of Mining at Whitburn] from the Durham Mining Museum
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* [http://website.lineone.net/~d.ord/Whitburn.htm Photographs of Whitburn, old and new] from the Whitburn Local History Group