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SWI004

Wear

Southwick

Dixon Shipyard, Southwick

Sunderland

54.915544, -1.401793

Useful Links:

Opened:

1827

Closed:

1844

Owners:

Thomas Dixon, William Dixon, Henry Dixon

Types built here:

Snow, Schooner, Barque, Brig

Customers (Not Exhaustive):

Newcastle General Shipping Co.

Estimated Output:

20

Construction Materials:

Wood

Status:

Redeveloped

Last Updated:

06/11/24

Description

This portion of the river at Low Southwick was a shipyard, leased to the Dixon family between the 1820s and 1840s from Stafford John Esq as stated in the tithe apportionment of 1840. It was adjacent to the Carr Shipyard (https://www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/shipbuilding-archive/swi002/low-southwick%2C-carr-shipyard)

It has proved incredibly difficult to trace their lineage, especially given their common surname. I have tracked Henry and William, the former supposedly born in Durham in the 1780s. He is noted as a shipbuilder living at Collier Row in Southwick with William. Given it was a separate village, there's a reasonable chance the family could have lived elsewhere in modern Sunderland too.

Their first recorded ship is the Loyal Standard, a cargo Snow built for Thomas Hodgson, Charles Adie & John Rennie of Sunderland. This was their staple build, alongside limited schooners, barques and brigs.

It appears Thomas & William ceased building by 1840, with Henry taking the reigns for another 4 years. By the time of the first Ordnance Survey map surveyed in 1855, the site is composed of a Bottle Works and a steep hill - potentially ballast or waste.

'Sketches of The Coal Mines in Northumberland and Durham' T.H.Hair, published in 1844

Tithe plan of 1840. The shipyard was located in plot 134

Have we missed something, made a mistake, or have something to add? Contact us

Historic Environment Records

Durham/Northumberland: Keys to the Past

Tyne and Wear: Sitelines

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HER information as described above is reproduced under the basis the resource is free of charge for education use. It is not altered unless there are grammatical errors. 

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