Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for SEAHAM-HARBOUR

SEAHAM-HARBOUR, a sea-port town and a chapelry in Dalton-le-Dale parish, Durham. The town stands at the S side of the mouth of Seaham dene, and at the terminus of the Sunderland and Seaham railway, 6 miles S by E of Sunderland; occupies ground which was formerlywaste and wild; dates from only 1828, when both itself and its harbour were begun to be formed; commands an extensive view of both sea and coast; carries on an extensive trade in the export of coal and lime; conducts much business also in blast-furnaces, an extensive foundry, and bottle-works; publishes two weekly newspapers; and has a head post-office, ‡ designated Seaham, Durhamshire, a r. station with telegraph, also designated Seaham, a banking office, a custom-house, a church of 1841 in the later English style, three dissenting chapels, a mechanics'institution, a national school, and an infirmary. The harbour comprises about 16 acres, with a pier; has a fixed light, put up in 1846; and is near the two Red Acre Point lights, 94 and 49 feet high, put up in 1843. The shipment of coals in 1862 comprised 41, 190 tons to foreign ports, and 613, 226 tons coastwise. The chapelry was constituted in 1843; is conterminate with Dawdon township; and comprises 830 acres of land, and 157 of water. Real property, £47, 988; of which £24, 747 are in mines, £10, 178 in railways, £150 in iron-works, and £378 in gas-works. Pop. in 1851, 3, 538; in 1861, 6, 137. Houses, 833. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Durham-Value, £250.* Patron, Earl Vane.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a sea-port town and a chapelry"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Dalton le Dale AP/CP       County Durham AncC
Place: Seaham

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