Home
NORTH EAST TIMELINE

Above: St. Aidan's Statue, Holy Island, Northumberland. Photo courtesy of freefoto.com

Prime Minister Tony Blair and The Millennium History of North East England by David Simpson. Photo courtesy of The Northern Echo

 

FreeFoto.Com

Back to top of page
About the Site

David Simpson / Books
North East England
The Timeline
Roots of the Region
Yorkshire Pages
Northumberland
Newcastle upon Tyne
Tyneside
County Durham
Wearside
Durham City
Teesside
Coal and Railways
Coastal History
Kingdom of Northumbria
Dialect
Place Names
Surnames
The Borderlands
Hadrian's Wall
Christian history
Legends and Songs
Yorkshire Pages
City of York
Bibliography
Links
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

Timeline of North East History

CHEMICALS AND GLASS 1800AD - 1900AD

By David Simpson

The chemical industry of the North-East today is most closely associated with Teesside but the early chemical industries of the 18th and 19th Centuries were centred on Tyneside. The most important chemical activity was the making of alkali. When mixed with fat, alkali could be used to make soap, and mixed with lime and sand could be used to make glass.

ALKALI FROM BRINE
Alkali-making started to develop in the 1700s and was linked to increasing production of industrial products like cloth. Chemical products like soap, dyes and bleach were increasingly in demand and the need for glass also encouraged the industry. In 1798 John Losh and the Earl of Dundonald took out a lease on a rich supply of brine pumped from Walker pit and the salt from the brine was later used in the manufacture of alkali. Alkali works were established by Losh, Wilson & Bell at Walker-on-Tyne in 1807. The manufacture of bleaching powder began at Walker-on-Tyne in 1830 and Losh Brothers soon manufactured half the soda in England.

TYNESIDE ALKALI WORKS
In 1814 the Le Blanc process of making alkali from common salt was introduced to Britain making production easier. Alkali works opened at Tyne Dock 1822, Felling shore 1826, Friars Goose (Gateshead) 1828 and Felling Shore 1834. Such works also produced soda, alum and Epsom salts. One of the great problems associated with the alkali works was pollution, mainly from emissions of hydrochloric acid fumes which devastated the neighbouring countryside. One solution was to build tall chimneys to drive the fumes further away and in 1833 the highest chimney in England was built at the Friars Goose Alkali Works. The Alkali Act of 1863 further reduced pollution.

TEESSIDE CHEMICALS
A chemical works was founded by Robert Wilson at Urlay Nook near Egglescliffe in 1833 to produce sulphuric acid and fertilisers. It was Teesside’s first great chemical works. Teesside did not, however, take over from Tyneside until the 1860s and 1870s. In 1859 huge rock salt deposits were discovered at Middlesbrough by Bolckow and Vaughan while boring for water at a depth of 1,206 feet. The following year William James established an alkali company at Cargo Fleet and in 1869 Samuel Sadler set up a works nearby. Sadler’s works produced synthetic aniline and alzarine dyes and distilled tar. A new method of making alkali called the Solvay process, introduced in 1872, made the Tyneside industry uneconomic but was a boon for Teesside. Further salt deposits discovered at Port Clarence by Bell Brothers in 1874 also boosted Teesside production.

BRUNNER MOND
A number of salt works were established at Haverton Hill near Billingham in 1882 by Bell Brothers of Port Clarence which became the first firm to begin large scale salt production on Teesside. Salt workers were brought in from Cheshire and housed at Haverton Hill. The salt-making interests of Bell Brothers were bought by Brunner Mond & Co of Cheshire in 1890 which became the giant of Teesside chemical-making in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. Meanwhile rationalization of chemical firms in 1891 left only four works on Tyneside.

BILLINGHAM CHEMICAL WORKS
The Chemical Industry was established at Billingham in 1918 by the Government for the production of synthetic ammonia. It was intended for use in the making of bombs for the war. The 700 acre Grange Farm at Billingham was chosen for the site. The war was over by the time the plant opened and it had to adapt to new manufacturing. It was taken over by Brunner Mond in 1920 and manufactured synthetic ammonia and fertilisers. Brunner Mond merged with other great chemical manufacturers in 1926 to form ICI. From 1928 anhydrite or dry gypsum was mined from 700 feet below Billingham for use in the making of fertilisers.

PLASTICS AND NYLON
The making of plastics commenced at Billingham in 1934 and a new plant was established the following year for making oil and petrol from creosote and coal through a process called hydrogenation. In 1946 another great chemical works opened on Teesside at Wilton on the south side of the river. Further lands were purchased by ICI in 1962 at Seal Sands where land had been reclaimed from the sea.

PETRO-CHEMICALS
Coke ovens used in the making of chemicals at Billingham were replaced in 1962 by new plants utilising the steam naptha process which enabled the use of crude oil. This proved to be a much cheaper process of making ammonia on Teesside. From 1964 to 1969 four great oil refineries were erected at the mouth of the Tees, two by Phillips Petroleum and one each by ICI and Shell. Their main purpose was to supply the Billingham chemical industry. A 138 mile pipeline was built in 1968 linking chemical works on Teesside with chemical plants at Runcorn for the transportation of ethylene.

SALT-MAKING AT GREATHAM
Salt-making in and around Greatham (between Hartlepool and Billingham) had been important in Medieval times but by the 16th Century the industry had been eclipsed by South Shields on the Tyne. In 1894 the industry returned to Greatham with the establishment of the Greatham Salt and Brine Company by George Weddell. The works was later purchased by the famous salt-making company Cerebos in 1903

GLASS-MAKING
Glass had long been an important industry in the north since stained glass glaziers were introduced to Wearmouth and Jarrow monastery back in 674AD. Sunderland and Tyneside were once again noted for glass-making from the 17th Century and from the 19th Century glass-making was particularly important. In 1827 about two fifths of all English glass was made in the Tyneside area and in 1845 South Shields was making more plate glass than anywhere else in England. Sunderland was also rising to prominence as a glass-making centre. James Hartley’s Wear Glass Works was opened in Sunderland in 1836 and by 1865 one third of the sheet glass in England was supplied by his Sunderland works.

BREWING A chemical industry of an altogether different kind, but linked to the demand for glass, was of course the beer brewing industry. Major beer brewers in the region were Tetley’s, established in Leeds 1822, Vaux Breweries at Sunderland 1837-1999, The Lion Brewery at Hartlepool (later Camerons)1852, and the Newcastle Breweries established in 1890.

THE TIMELINE BY ERA

ROMAN PERIOD

ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD

VIKING PERIOD

NORMAN PERIOD

MEDIEVAL PERIOD

TUDOR AND STUART PERIOD

GEORGIAN PERIOD

VICTORIAN PERIOD

TWENTIETH CENTURY

 

THE MILLENNIUM HISTORY OF NORTH EAST ENGLAND

by David Simpson

Published by leighton in association with The Northern Echo

ISBN 0-9536984-3-2

The Millennium History of North East England by David Simpson is published by Leighton, The Teleport, Doxford International, Sunderland, SR3 3XD, Tel +44 (0) 191 5252400 Fax +44 (0) 520 1815 www.bepl.com. The book is a 322 page full colour hard back book covering the history of the region from Roman times to the present day. To order copies of the book you can e-mail Andrea.Murphy@bepl.com

Author David Simpson and Paul Callaghan, Managing Director of leighton at the book launch held at Lumley Castle, Durham December 1999

www.northeastengland.talktalk.net