This land has been used for centuries for shipbuilding - a convenient gentle gradient down to the river with an abundance of lime & coal up the bank. However, pre-1850s it can be pretty difficult to pin the exact location of each yard. However, it does appear this plot was used by the Mills family from the 1830s until the late 1860s.

Though first in a partnership with one member of the Austin family, George and John Mills appear to have maintained this site through the building of some 90 vessels until 1869. They were all rigged timber ships destined for the merchant trade from the east coast - many built for famous North East families like Snowball, Ord, Thompson and Ogle who all had stakes in shipping through their various interests.

Though they likely commenced here in 1839, the tithe plan of the same year does not elaborate who leased this land - only that they were ballast hills and yards owned by Stafford John Esq.

Austin, by 1861 left the business so the Mills continued through to 1869. Their last vessel was the Lady Lampson, a barque constructed for the Hudson's Bay Company.

A partnership of Davison & Stokoe operated from a shipyard adjacent to the Crown Glass Works in the 1870s also.

There is little detail about the two owners. I've scoured ancestry and the newspapers and have not confirmed exactly their names and background, though Davison may perhaps be called William. They took on a previously operating yard here from around 1872 constructing iron steamships. Their first known vessel was Arbitrator, a general cargo ship for a Liverpool merchant with an engine sourced from the Ouseburn Engine Works.

The Ouseburn Engine Works actually provided most of the engines throughout the short life of the yard, and this may be due to much of the industry being on strike at this time. By this year it was owned by a workers co-operative who had raised money to buy the works after extensive strikes the year before. Workers bought shares for £5, and for the next 3 years operated as a company owned by its workers. Severe undercutting thanks to lack of managerial experience forced it into bankruptcy, though it was taken on by other co-operatives for another 6 years. The low prices may have been another lure for Davison & Stokoe.

The firm produced at least 11 other ships, all for general cargo and all iron steamships. It was however faced with difficulties throughout. There are at least 2 cases of large fires, the first being in May 1872. Considerable amounts of the property was destroyed, starting in a two storey wooden building about 30 yards long used as a joiners shop. This fire was overcome but damaged the aforementioned building and two vessels being fitted out.

The second was in 1874 which was far more extensive. Crowds gathered on the other side at Doxford's to witness the black clouds caused by the thick smoke from the fire. It started from a spark falling from the flattening sheds landing on a stack of dry straw in the south east of the yard. Strong westerly winds led to the fire burning up the Crown Glass Works . An "immense" stack of timber was ignited as well as ancillary building roofs covered with felt. A warehouse was destroyed as well as crates of packed glass over at the Crown Works. Fortunately the shipyard was covered by the Norwich Union.

The partnership was liquidated in 1875, and the fires could have been a factor. It was up for sale by public auction in the November of 1875, selling all the plant, tools and materials in the yard. It was later absorbed into the Pickersgill yard.