Marsden, Tyne and Wear
| Marsden | |
|---|---|
 Marsden Bay, looking south east towards Souter Lighthouse, Marsden Rock is on the left |
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 Marsden
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| Marsden shown within Tyne and Wear | |
| OS grid reference | NZ395650 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SOUTH SHIELDS |
| Postcode district | NE34 |
| Dialling code | 0191 |
| Police | Northumbria |
| Fire | Tyne and Wear |
| Ambulance | North East |
| EU Parliament | North East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Marsden is located on the outskirts of the seaside town South Shields, North East England, located on the North Sea coast.
Marsden was originally a small village, consisting of farms, a few cottages and a lighthouse at Souter Point. Local industry consisted of a small limestone quarry.
The nearby Marsden Bay includes the Marsden Rock sea stack. The Leas, located to the north, is an important seabird sanctuary. This land, along with Souter Lighthouse (the first lighthouse in the world to be powered by alternating current), is now owned by the National Trust. Marsden is best known for its beaches including Marsden Beach which has the famous Marsden Rock and the famous pub the Marsden Grotto. The beaches span along to the beach known locally as Boatie's Bay.
In the 1870s, the Whitburn Coal Company bought the five local quarries, two of which were developed as the Lighthouse (Marsden) Quarries. After a failed attempt in 1874 due to water ingress to develop a shaft into the Northumberland Coalfield, in 1877 a second development using the Kind-Chaudron process, created access to the Bensham seam through two 13 feet (4.0 m) diameter shafts, with No.1 having a depth of 180 fathoms (1,080 ft; 330 m) and No.2 with a depth of 115 fathoms (690 ft; 210 m).
The company built the twin-track South Shields, Marsden, and Whitburn Colliery Railway, leaving the North Eastern Railway line at Westoe Lane, South Shields and travelling to Marsden via two intermediate stations. Built to serve the colliery and opened in May 1879, the line served the Lighthouse limestone quarry, a paper manufactory, and local farms. On the 19 March 1888 the line opened to the public.
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Wikipedia