Jarrow

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For the parliamentary constituency, see Jarrow (UK Parliament constituency).

Coordinates: 54°58′47″N 1°28′49″W / 54.9797°N 1.4804°W / 54.9797; -1.4804

Jarrow
Jarrow is located in Tyne and Wear
Jarrow

 Jarrow shown within Tyne and Wear
Population 27,526 
OS grid reference NZ332651
Metropolitan borough South Tyneside
Metropolitan county Tyne and Wear
Region North East
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town JARROW
Postcode district NE32
Dialling code 0191
Police Northumbria
Fire Tyne and Wear
Ambulance North East
EU Parliament North East England
UK Parliament Jarrow
List of places
UK
England
Tyne and Wear

Jarrow (pron.: /ˈdʒæroʊ/ or /ˈdʒærə/) is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526.[1] Historically within County Durham, from the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.

Somewhat earlier in Jarrow's history, the second Viking invasion was repulsed at Jarrow giving the island peace for forty years. It is believed that monks, women, and children participated in that defense. It is the Viking's Lindisfarne.

Contents

History and naming

Foundation

The Angles re-occupied a 1st century Roman fort on the site of Jarrow in the 5th century[citation needed] Its name is recorded around AD 750 as Gyruum, representing Old English [æt] Gyrwum = "[at] the marsh dwellers", from Anglo-Saxon gyr = "mud", "marsh". Later spellings are Jaruum in 1158, and Jarwe in 1228. Today Jarrow residents' popular nickname for Jarrow is "Jarra".

The ruins of St. Paul's Monastery

Wearmouth-Jarrow Priory

Main article: Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory

The Monastery of Saint Paul in Jarrow, part of the twin foundation Monkwearmouth-Jarrow Priory, was once the home of the Venerable Bede, whose most notable works include The Ecclesiastical History of the English People and the translation of the Gospel of John into Old English. At the time of its foundation, it was reputed to have been the only centre of learning in Europe north of Rome. In 794 Jarrow became the second target in England of the Vikings, who had plundered Lindisfarne in 793. The Monastery was later dissolved by Henry VIII. The ruins of the Monastery are now associated with and partly built into the present-day church of St. Paul, which stands on the site. One wall of the church contains the oldest stained-glass window in the world, dating from about AD 600. Just beside the Monastery is "Bede's World", a working museum dedicated to the life and times of Bede. Bede's World also incorporates Jarrow Hall, a grade II listed building and significant local landmark.

19th century to present

Jarrow remained a small town until the introduction of heavy industries like coal mining and shipbuilding. Charles Mark Palmer established a shipyard – Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited – in 1852 and became the first armour-plate manufacturer in the world. John Bowes, the first iron screw collier, revived the Tyne coal trade, and Palmers was also responsible for the first modern cargo ship, as well as a number of notable warships. Around 1,000 ships were built at the yard.

Palmers employed as much as 80% of the town's working population until its closure in 1934 following purchase by National Shipbuilders Securities Ltd. (NSS). This organisation had been set up by Stanley Baldwin's Conservative government in the 1920s, but the first public statement had been made in 1930 whilst the Labour Party was in office. The aim of NSS was to reduce capacity within the British shipyards. In fact Palmer's yard was relatively efficient and modern, but had serious financial problems.[citation needed] As from 1935, Olympic, the sister ship of RMS Titanic, was partially demolished at Jarrow, being towed in 1937 to Inverkeithing, Scotland for final scrapping.

The launch of the battlecruiser HMS Queen Mary from Palmers shipyard in 1912

The closure of the shipyard was responsible for one of the events for which Jarrow is best known. Jarrow is marked in history as the starting point in 1936 of the Jarrow March to London to protest against unemployment in Britain. Jarrow MP Ellen Wilkinson wrote about these events in her book The Town That Was Murdered (1939). Some doubt has been cast by historians as to how effective events such as the Jarrow March actually were[2] but there is some evidence that they stimulated interest in regenerating 'distressed areas'.[3]

Education

Jarrow's needs for secondary education are currently served by Jarrow School, formerly Springfield Comprehensive. Springfield was merged with another of Jarrow's secondary schools, Hedworthfield Comprehensive at Fellgate, following a gradual reduction of the number of new pupils for the yearly intake of 11 year olds to the point where keeping both schools open was no longer viable. As of 2008 plans to revamp Jarrow School have come into action. Building work has now began with aims of turning the school into a modern learning facility with Specialist Engineering Status. The Head Teacher at the school plans to improve the schools grade point average, by improving the learning facilities, costing millions of pounds.

Jarrow Metro station

Transport

Road

Jarrow is reached from the south by the A1(M) via the A194, and is connected to North Tyneside and Northumberland via the Tyne Tunnel.

Metro

Jarrow is served by three stations on the Tyne and Wear Metro: Jarrow station in the centre of the town (on the Yellow line) Bede station in the Bede industrial estate (also on the Yellow line), and Fellgate station (on the Green line) to the south.

Air

The nearest major airport is Newcastle Airport, about 10 miles away.

Famous Jarrow residents

Famous former residents of the town, including Ellen Wilkinson MP, Charles Mark Palmer and William Jobling, have been remembered in the names of beers produced by Jarrow Brewing Company, a microbrewery in the town.

Jarrow town centre in 2005

Twin towns

Jarrow is twinned with the following towns, under the umbrella of the South Tyneside town-twinning project which saw individual twinning projects brought together in 1974:

References

Notes

  1. ^ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Urban Areas : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population Retrieved 2009-08-26
  2. ^ Lloyd, T.O. Empire to Welfare State, 1970
  3. ^ Marwick, Arthur. Britain in our Century 1984

Sources

  • Gibbs, Philip. England speaks (1935)
  • Lloyd, T.O. Empire to Welfare State (1970)
  • Marwick, Arthur. Britain in our Century (1984)
  • Wilkinson, Ellen. The town that was murdered: Depicting in brief the history and demise of Jarrow (1939)

External links