Toponymy Jarrow's name is first recorded in the 8th century. It derives from the Gyrwe, an
Anglian tribe that lived here. The Gyrwe's name means "fen dwellers", perhaps in reference to Jarrow Slake (a now-drained wetland that lay at the confluence of the Tyne and the
Don). The place-name would normally have developed into
Yarrow in modern English, but as with
Jesmond, Norman influence resulted in the initial becoming .
Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey The Monastery of
Paul of Tarsus in Jarrow, part of the twin foundation
Monkwearmouth–Jarrow Abbey, was once the home of
the Venerable Bede, whose most notable works include
Ecclesiastical History of the English People and the translation of the
Gospel of John into
Old English. Along with the abbey at Wearmouth, Jarrow became a centre of learning and had the largest library north of the
Alps, primarily due to the widespread travels of
Benedict Biscop, its founder. In 794 Jarrow became the second target in England of the
Vikings, who had plundered
Lindisfarne in 793. The monastery was later
dissolved by
Henry VIII. The ruins of the monastery are now associated with and partly built into the present-day church of St. Paul, which stands on the site. One wall of the church contains the oldest
stained glass window in the world, dating from about AD 600. Just beside the monastery is
Jarrow Hall, a working museum dedicated to the life and times of Bede. This incorporates
Jarrow Hall, a grade II
listed building and significant local landmark. The world's oldest complete Bible, written in Latin to be presented to the then Pope (Gregory II), was produced at this monastery – the
Codex Amiatinus. It is currently safeguarded in the
Laurentian Library, Florence, Italy. Originally three copies of the Bible were commissioned by
Ceolfrid in 692. The book later appears in the ninth century in the Abbey of the Saviour, Monte Amiata in Tuscany (hence the description "Amiatinus"), where it remained until 1786 when it passed to the
Laurentian Library in
Florence.
19th century to present HMS Queen Mary from Palmer's shipyard in 1912 Jarrow remained a small mid-Tyne town until the introduction of
heavy industries such as coal mining and
shipbuilding.
Charles Mark Palmer established a shipyard –
Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company – in 1852 and became the first armour-plate manufacturer in the world. and Palmer's was also responsible for the first modern cargo ship, following purchase by
National Shipbuilders Securities Ltd. (NSS). This organisation had been set up by
Stanley Baldwin's
Conservative government in the 1920s, but the first public statement had been made in 1930 whilst the
Labour Party was in office. The aim of NSS was to reduce capacity within the British shipyards. In fact Palmer's yard was relatively efficient and modern, but had serious financial problems. As from 1935,
Olympic, the sister ship of
RMS Titanic, was partially demolished at Jarrow, being towed in 1937 to
Inverkeithing, Scotland for final scrapping. The
Great Depression brought so much hardship to Jarrow that the town was described by
Life as "cursed." The closure of the shipyard was responsible for one of the events for which Jarrow is best known. Jarrow is marked in history as the starting point in 1936 of the
Jarrow March to London to protest against unemployment in Britain. Jarrow
Member of Parliament (MP)
Ellen Wilkinson wrote about these events in her book
The Town That Was Murdered (1939). Some doubt has been cast by historians as to how effective events such as the Jarrow March actually were but there is some evidence that they stimulated interest in regenerating 'distressed areas'. 1938 saw the establishment of a
ship breaking yard and engineering works in the town, followed by the creation of a steelworks in 1939. The
Jarrow rail disaster was a train collision that occurred on the 17 December 1915 at the Bede junction on a
North Eastern Railway line. The collision was caused by a signalman's error and seventeen people died in the collision. ==Governance==