Whitburn is a village in South Tyneside, in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear on the coast of North East England. It is located north of the city of Sunderland and south of the town of South Shields. Historically, Whitburn is part of County Durham. Other nearby population centres include Seaburn, Cleadon and Marsden. The village lies on a south-facing slope, part of Durham's Magnesian Limestone plateau, which overlooks Sunderland. The population for the combined Whitburn and Marsden Ward in the 2011 UK Census was 7,448. For much of its history, Whitburn was a fishing and agricultural community. The village contains three schools, three churches, a cricket club, recreational grounds, a pub and a variety of shops.
Toponymy The first written instance of Whitburn is in the Boldon Book of 1183, where the village is recorded as Whitberne. This name may refer to a stream or burn running through the village. Alternatively, the origin could come from Hwita Byrgen, or Hwita's tumulus, the place where the Saxon nobleman Hwita was buried. Other possible origins are Kwit-Berne, an Anglo-Saxon word for a tithe barn,WCA, 2006: 6 or hwīt + bere-ærn, Old English for "white barn".Mills, 2011
History The earliest evidence of human occupation in Whitburn dates back to the Mesolithic period (8,000–4,500BC). Lumps of burnt daub have been discovered at Potter's Hole on the coast, probably from a timber structure. Archaeological deposits and Mesolithic flint scatters have been found at nearby sites, including St Peter's Church, Monkwearmouth. Neolithic and Bronze Age flints have also been found in Whitburn. A Bronze Age cist burial was uncovered in Wheatall Farm in 1929 which contained a 35-year-old person buried with an arrowhead, flints and limpets.Young, Middleton & Dunn, 2015: 78-83
When the bishopric of Monkwearmouth was founded in 674, the king gifted all of the royal estates east of Dere Street and north of the River Wear – which included Whitburn – to the Church. Cuthbert, the Bishop of Lindisfarne at the time, was responsible for spreading Christianity throughout the North East.Young et al., 2015: 91 Whitburn was located within an important centre of European learning and culture at this time, being situated between the monasteries of Jarrow and Monkwearmouth.
Part of the village to the south has been designated as an Area of Potential Archaeological Importance as it is the site of a medieval village.WCA, 2006: 16 During the Middle Ages, Whitburn was both a township and a parish. Whitburn Parish included the townships of Whitburn and Cleadon.Young et al., 2015: 96-97 By the 12th century, Whitburn appears to have been well-established as a two row green village (two rows of properties facing onto a linear green).WCA, 2006: 5WHCA, 2017: 16 Whitburn had a tithe barn, a stone building which formed part of the village's feudal system, situated off Church Lane until it was destroyed by a bomb in the Second World War.WCA, 2006: 31 Whitburn Parish Church (constructed in the 13th century) and Whitburn Hall (constructed in the 16th century) became the focal points of the village.WBCA, 2007: 5
Whitburn is recorded in the Boldon Book of 1183 as Whitberne and was listed alongside Cleadon. The combined land area of Cleadon and Whitburn was approximately , suggesting that the settlements were well-established by the time of the Boldon Book. The entry in the Boldon Book mentions a "John of Whitburn" who "holds 40 acres and 1 toft and returns 8s and goes on missions for the Bishop." The use of the word "cornage", an old form of taxation pre-dating the Anglo-Saxon period, further suggests that Whitburn was among the oldest of settlements in the area. In 1183, Whitburn and Boldon formed part of the bishop's estates and much of the surrounding land belonged to the Prior of Durham Cathedral.Young et al., 2015: 94-96 200 years after the Boldon Book, the Bishop of Durham (Thomas Hatfield) commissioned the Hatfield Survey. Cleadon and Whitburn are again listed together as a single parish with two townships. The survey also mentions Whitburn Windmill.Young et al., 2015: 108
Whitburn operated under a manorial system until 1718 when the Land Enclosure Act came into force and a number of farms were created. Until the mid-late 19th century, Whitburn was a largely agricultural and fishing community. Throughout the 19th century, the population of Whitburn Parish grew from 675 in 1801 to 2,738 in 1891, largely driven by increased industrialisation.Young et al., 2015: 148 A contemporary description from 1834 describes the villages as having "a more sheltered and comfortable appearance than most places on the bare-eastern coast."Mackenzie & Ross, 1834: 50 Another description of the village from 1857 records it as having "a Wesleyan Methodist chapel, a post-office, a brewery, and three public houses."Fordyce, 1857: 733 The 1891 census reveals that Whitburn's population included wealthy industrialists, entrepreneurs, coalminers and fishermen. Detached villas and terraces were built along with two schools and the Wesleyan Chapel, which was replaced by the current Methodist Church in 1881.WCA, 2006: 6-7 Whitburn Colliery (also known as Marsden Colliery) opened in the 1840s, stimulating the local brick and iron industries and fulfilling the growing demand for coal.Young et al., 2015: 152, 188 By 1931, Whitburn Colliery produced over 18,000 tons of coal per week, serving the surrounding Marsden pit village. It closed on 1 June 1968 and the village was demolished.Young et al., 2015: 190
In 1931 the parish of Whitburn had a population of 6,082. On 1 April 1936 the parish was abolished with most of the area, including the village itself, becoming part of Boldon Urban District and a smaller part going to South Shields. Boldon Urban District was abolished in 1974 when the area was transferred from County Durham to Tyne and Wear. No successor parish was created for the former urban district and so it became an unparished area.Local Government Act 1972
Lewis Carroll visited his cousin Margaret Wilcox while she lived in Whitburn, along with Lady Hedworth Williamson of Whitburn Hall (second cousin of Alice Liddell).WHCA, 2017: 38 It is popularly believed that Carroll wrote The Walrus and the Carpenter while holidaying in Whitburn.
During the First World War, Whitburn had primary shore and cliff defences. The stretch of east coastline from Sunderland to Whitburn was established by the 3rd Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment, and the stretch from Whitburn to the Tyne was established by the 3rd Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry. In 1918, the War Office report recorded a training ground at Marsden Farm in Whitburn. Prefabricated hutment camps were also recorded in West Hall and South Bents Farm in Whitburn. Two rifle ranges from the time are still visible today in the village.Young et al., 2015: 223-230 In 1921, a war memorial was erected on the village green.WHCA, 2017: 28
During the Second World War, the coastline at Whitburn often came under attack from German bombing raids. On one occasion on 9 August 1940, a Heinkel He 111H-E crashed into the sea after dropping bombs on Sunderland. The German airmen all survived and were rescued from the water. The cottages at Whitburn Bents were also badly damaged during heavy bombing in 1940.WBCA, 2007: 7 Whitburn had a few wartime defences. A bombing decoy, known as a starfish site, was built at Wellands Farm near Whitburn. It was designed to look like a city on fire in order to confuse bombers travelling to the Tyne and Sunderland docks.Young et al., 2015: 240 A heavy anti-aircraft battery was installed at Lizard Lane in 1940, and Whitburn windmill was used by observer corps as an observation post to warn of oncoming enemies at sea.
Throughout the 20th century, there was much residential development in Whitburn largely to the north and east of the village's historic core. This led to the village's function as a commuter settlement.WHCA, 2017: 17
Demography +Whitburn and Marsden Ward compared (2011)Whitburn and Marsden WardSouth TynesideEnglandTotal population7,448148,12753,012,456White97.9%95.9%85.4%BME2.1%4.1%14.6%Aged 0–1921.5%22.6%24%Aged 65+21.9%18.1%16.4%Male47.7%48.3%49.2%Female52.3%51.7%50.8% At the time of the 2001 UK Census, Whitburn had a population of 5,235.Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Urban Areas : Table KS01 : Usual Resident Population Retrieved 26 August 2009 In the 2011 UK Census, the Whitburn and Marsden Ward had 7,448 usual residents. The average age of the residents was 43.6, slightly above the average for South Tyneside. The vast majority (97.9%) of residents identified as white and 97.5% were born in the UK. The largest religious group was Christianity (75.2% of residents). The majority of residents (58.2%) were in employment, with wholesale and retail trade and health and social work activities being the most common industries for the area. The most common occupation was 'Professional' (16.2%).
Governance In the UK national parliament, Whitburn is part of the South Shields constituency. Until the 2010 UK General Election, Whitburn was part of the Jarrow constituency. Boundary changes caused the village to move into the South Shields constituency prior to the election. As of 2022, Emma Lewell-Buck (Labour) his the local MP and has been since May 2013. In the 2019 General Election, Lewell-Buck won with a 9,585 vote majority. As of 2022, the ward of Whitburn and Marsden is represented by local councillors Peter Boyack, Tracey Dixon, and Joyce Welsh (all Labour).
Features Whitburn has retained its village character, with its main street, parish church, cricket ground and park with bowling greens and tennis courts. The street plan of the medieval core of the village largely remains today and can be seen in the layout of Front Street.WHCA, 2017: 27
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