Cullercoats, wagonway

John Dove built this, one of the earliest wagonways in Northumberland, in 1677. A timber wagonway, 15 yards in width, on which horse-drawn wagons were run. The wagonway ran from the Whitley and Monkseaton Collieries down the south side of the Marden Burn, past the Quaker burial ground, along what would become Front Street, to the bank top where the Watch Tower stands today. Here coals were loaded into vessels below {1}. John Dove was in partnership with John Carr of Newcastle, working the coal pits at Monkseaton and Whitley. The wagonway was laid from the pits to Cullercoats, where he built staiths and coal spouts and began to erect a pier. Dove died in 1679 and the pier was finished by John Carr, John Rogers and Henry Hudson. It took five years to finish, built mainly of wood, costing £3,013: 13s and 6d.