Early history The name of Felling is recorded as early as 1217 and, in 1920, was said to refer to a clearing where woods and trees were felled. Since there are no other places in Britain which bear this name, despite country-wide tree felling, it is much more likely to be because it lies on the eastern descent of a Fell, which rises from Team Valley in the west to Low Fell, then still rising to High Fell, before descending down to the Tyne through Felling. Ing is a place name ending which means "the people of". In the 13th century, the Prior of Durham
enfeoffed Sir Walter de Selby a manor at Felling "to hold by homage, fealty, knights' service, two marks rent, and suit at the prior's every fortnight". The estate then passed to Walter's son, Adam, whose own son forfeited the estate the manor upon his death, whereupon it was passed to Ralph de Applingden. In 1331, the manor was granted to Sir Thomas Surtees by
Bishop Lewis Beaumont, who passed it to his son Alexander and whose own son, Thomas, inherited the estate in 1400 when he was only 20 weeks old. Thomas lived only 35 years, but is notable for having been
High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1422. The estate continued to pass through the Surtees family until 1509, when the last surviving member of that family died. While several elements of the estate where divided by share, in 1509 the entire manor of Felling was granted by
Deed of
Partition to Robert Brandling and his heirs "for life and to the total extinction" of any other claims.
The Brandling family Brandling duly lived at Felling with his wife Anne. He became sheriff of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1524, was mayor of Newcastle five times and was knighted by the
Duke of Somerset at Mussleburgh. When he died in 1568, the estate passed to his brother Thomas. In 1605, Thomas' grandson,
Robert Brandling, inherited the manor. Robert Brandling was granted
Newminster Abbey by King James in 1610, served as High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1617 and was in 1621 elected
Member of Parliament for
Morpeth. When he died in 1636, the estate passed to his son,
Sir Francis Brandling. Francis was also an MP, albeit for
Northumberland, between 1624 and 1625 though he abandoned Felling in favour of residence at
Alnwick Abbey. He died in 1641 and was succeeded by Charles Brandling, a
cavalry colonel who also resided at both Felling and Alnwick. Charles had two brothers. The older of which, Ralph, was killed at the
Battle of Marston Moor, while the second brother, Robert, also participated in the
English Civil War and was captured in an otherwise successful
Royalist engagement at
Corbridge in February 1644 after which he switched sides and fought for the
Roundheads; an action which earned him the reputation as "a very knave" which he carried until his death in 1669. However, Ralph Brandling, the incumbent of the Brandling estate at that time, had come to realise the value of the rich coal deposits on his estate and began
drift mining around 1670. He initially found the large coal seams under his estate difficult to extract due to their depth, and indeed it was imported coal from Newcastle-upon-Tyne which saw the development of more extensive industries in salt, glass and chemicals which began to attract workers to the area. Encouraged by these developments, Ralph Brandling's son, Charles Brandling, firstly commissioned more extensive mining of near-surface coal on his estate and then, encouraged by the discovery of several strata below his estate, began boring operations in 1758 to allow ultimately for deeper coal extraction. The result was the opening of Felling Colliery in 1779, working on the High Main stratum at a depth of 125 fathoms. The colliery was deepened to reach the Low Main seam. Two shafts were provided: John Pit and William Pit. The Low Main began operation in October 1810.
firedamp ignited and at around 11.30 am, "one of the most tremendous explosions in the history of coal mining took place". One account recalled: Immense quantities of dust and coal rose high into the air in an inverted cone...In the village of Heworth, this cloud caused a darkness like that of early twilight and covered the roads so thickly that the footsteps of passengers were deeply imprinted in it. As soon as the explosion was heard, wives and children of the workmen ran to the pit. Wildness and terror were pictured in every countenance. The crowd soon collected to several hundreds, some crying out for a husband, others for a parent or a son, and all affected by a mixture of horror, anxiety and grief. Following the first blast at 11:30, rescue attempts started at 12:15. At 14:00 the second blast occurred and no further rescues occurred. The 200th anniversary of the first disaster was commemorated in Felling on 25 May 2012 by a parade from St Mary's Church at Heworth to the place of the entrance to the colliery at Mulberry Street.
The Industrial Revolution In spite of the disaster, Felling continued to grow and by the time of the explosions the character of Felling had changed substantially. There now existed three distinct villages. Around two miles south east of Gateshead lay High Felling; a residential village in the township of
Heworth which had attracted several
Wesleyan and
Methodist preachers. Slightly to the north lay Low Felling. This was a more heavily industrialised village, containing Felling colliery, a large chemical works and other manufacturers, At the north and on the bank of the
River Tyne, a populous manufacturing and trading village had developed known as Felling Shore, spreading across three miles of the bank of the Tyne. A Methodist church was built there in 1805. This was accompanied by several shops and four public houses frequented predominantly by seamen and workers at the adjacent quay, coal staithes and ship building works where vessels of excellent quality were built. it soon employed around 300 men. Grindstone quarries produced high quality stone and a brownware pottery under Mr. Joseph Wood had opened for business. This is one of the oldest passenger stations in the world. By around 1870, Felling had reached its industrial peak. Historian John Marius Wilson noted: FELLING, a large village and a chapelry in
Jarrow parish, Durham. The village stands on the Northeastern railway, 1½ mile SE of Gateshead; increased recently from two hamlets to its present condition; is maintained by factories and by mining operations; connects with Felling-Shore, a coal-shipping place on the Tyne; and has a post-office under Gateshead, a r. station, a church built in 1866, four dissenting chapels, and a Roman Catholic chapel. The chapelry was constituted in 1866. Population 5,105. The living is a vicarage. Value, £300. Patrons, Five Trustees.
1870 – present day The industrial heights proved reasonably short-lived. By 1860, improvements to access along the River Tyne only served to highlight the better sites on the Tyne bank and so shipbuilding at Felling Shore began to decline. This decline was hastened by the limited space at Felling dock, which could not reasonably be extended and so progress enjoyed elsewhere was never matched at Felling. At around the same time, the chemical industry began to stall as bigger and more efficient competitors overtook their Felling counterparts. At 10:52 am on 26 March 1907, an express passenger train travelling from Heworth signal box derailed on the approach to Felling station. The cause was a combination of a sharp frost in the morning and unseasonal heat later in the day which saw the track expand and kink. The derailment, which saw all bar two carriages rolled over entirely, cost two passengers their lives, with eight more seriously hurt and a further 34 suffering minor injuries such as shock. The earlier housing came at Stuart Street, Temple Street and Helmsdale Avenue in the form of
Tyneside flats. In the inter-war years, whole derelict industrial areas were cleared and large council estates of semi-detached houses, with front and back gardens, were built at the Old Fold, Stoneygate, Brandling and Nest estates. By the time that Felling ceased to be an independent town and was incorporated into the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in 1974, Felling had become a "dormitory area" and remains so today. ==Economy==