History

The earliest reference found to date for Cox Green is on a map dated 1711. The village of Cox Green is marked as "Cock's Green" and even by this early date looks to be well-established. The village was located close to a valuable source of lime and sandstone (or "firestone" as it was also known) and a quarry was established here to extract the sandstone from the earth. It is likely that this source of sandstone and the close proximity to the river for transportation purposes were the reasons that the village became established here.

Firestone was used in the glass making industry and several glass manufacturers were established in Sunderland. It was used for lining the furnaces and had to be renewed every eight weeks, so the quarries at Cox Green and neighbouring Penshaw were very convenient for this.The quarries were owned by the glass manufacturers themselves to ensure a steady and reliable local supply of firestone.

For many years Cox Green had only one quarry until a second was opened nearby. The 'Old Maps' page of this site shows the location of both quarries. The original quarry is located just to the south east of the village.

Above: part of 1737 map by Mark Burleigh. Title: "A plan of the river Wear from Newbridge to Sunderland barr as it appeared at low water"

As well as the stone industry, the riverside location of the village, as well as the number of keels servicing the many staithes in the Penshaw and Low Lambton areas meant that Cox Green was suitably placed to provide a ship hull and keel building and repair service. On the 1737 map, the area to the west of the village is indeed marked as "Ship Haugh" and later (by the time of the 1873 map) just to the east of the village there is an area marked simply as "Shipbuilding Yard." This area was known as Nichol's sands and is now entirely covered by Edgewood Stables.

William Doxford Senior (1812-1882) founded his first shipbuilding yard at Cox Green in 1840 where wooden ships were constructed, before later moving further down-river to Pallion in 1857.

Above: map showing the ship building yard to the east of Cox Green and 'Nichol's Sands'

Cox Green also has its roots in the coal industry. Although there were no pits in the village itself, the current main road into and out of Cox Green was once a horsedrawn wagonway used to transport coal down to the river and its waiting keelboats from Wharton's Main Pit, which was situated in the field below Penshaw Hill near the current Penshaw to Offerton road. The pit was owned by, and named after, the Wharton family of nearby Offerton Hall. The location of the pit can be found on old Ordnance Survey maps of Penshaw (c.1862) where it is marked as Painshaw New Winning', though by then it had long since been abandoned. Indeed, in 1779 the Top Main and Mudlin (Maudlin) seams had been closed. John Gibson's Collieries and Waggonways map (1787) and Williams Casson's Coalfields map (1801) show it as 'Wharton Main'.

Wharton Main:

Approximate location / Grid Reference: NZ32883 54381

Google Maps: approximate location: 54.88305,-1.488819

Above: map of 1862 showing the location of "Painshaw New Winning" pit

Above: the site of Wharton Main Colliery today. The shaft was located just to the right of the trees in the centre of the picture.

It is interesting to note that the modern-day Cox Green road, which runs from New Penshaw to Offterton was only built at the same time as the railway. Before this, the only non-riverside tracks to exist were those that ran in roughly a north/south direction from the direction of Penshaw (hill and village) down to the riverside and these were primarily used by workmen to get to and from their places of work.