A HISTORY OF DURHAM 



of which suggested to Hutchinson a watch-tower, had 

 disappeared. Further west the wall was broken in 

 its length by two rectangular bastions, the entrance 

 to the harbour being further west again, between two 

 round towers 36 ft. apart. In Hutchinson's time 

 one of these towers was ' very perfect save the parapet 

 and embrasures,' but only the 'facia and foundations' 

 of the other remained. Sharp (1816) states that 

 'the most perfect of the two towers was a few years 

 ago 32 ft. high,' and that at various parts the remains 

 of quays had been traced, showing that in all proba- 

 bility they extended entirely round the harbour. The 

 harbour was nearly 1 2 acres in extent, but was 

 inclosed for agricultural purposes in 1808 and the 

 tower at the entrance destroyed. The entrance 

 was then blocked and ' every vestige of antiquity 

 which could be converted to profit ' was removed." 

 Five years later, however, the harbour was restored to 

 its original use, but was silted up in 1832. It now 

 forms part of the Victoria Dock. 



The existing western wall faces the outer harbour, 

 and formerly had bastions at intervals and a sally-port 

 at about half its length, but these have disappeared." 

 Near its south-east end, at rather less than i 50 ft. 

 from where the wall abuts upon the rock, is the old 

 gateway known as Sandwell Gate. It stands at the 

 end of Sandwell Ch.are, a narrow thoroughfare run- 

 ning from Southgate Street to the beach. The wall 

 here is 8 ft. 3 in. thick and about 18 ft. high, and is 

 pierced by a wider modern opening immediately to 

 the south of the gateway. The top of the wall with 

 plain parapet and chamfered plinth its whole length 

 now forms a promenade. Towards the be.ich the gate- 

 way openmg is 8 ft. in width with a pointed arch of 

 two continuous chamfered orders, flanked on either 

 side by angular buttresses carried up the full height of 

 the parapet. On the town side the entrance has a 

 segmental barrel vault carried by two chamfered ribs, 

 the outer one forming the arch. The gateway is of 

 plain and massive character and appears to be part of 

 the original early 14th-century work. 



Beyond the wall, across the isthmus, lay one of the 

 toivn fields, Farwell Field; on the north-west boundary 

 of the field were St. Helen's Chapel and St. Helen's 

 Well," which thus lay outside the borough boun- 

 daries. In 1 802 it was decided by arbitration 

 between the Mayor of H:irtIepool and George Pocock, 

 the lord of the manor, that the boundary of Hartle- 

 pool was the white or north wall." The boundary 

 between Farwell Field and Hart Warren was marked 

 by a low wall in 18 16." Corporation Road at the 

 present day follows the line of this wall. 



The ferry with boats over a certain creek into the 

 sea is mentioned in 1436." It plied between the 

 headland at the end of Southgate and the tower at 



the end of the sea-wall defending the harbour, and 

 belonged to the Cliffords as lords of Hartlepool. 



On 24 March 1473-4 Bishop Booth issued letters 

 addressed to all abbots, priors, &c., entreating their 

 charitable aid for the men of Hartlepool, who proposed 

 to build a pier ' near the w.ills on the south part of 

 the town, for the safeguard of all ships and vessels 

 arriving at the port.' " The pier was built due west 

 from the headland called Crofton Heugh, which 

 projects into the sea beyond the south end of the 

 town wall. By the building of this pier the outer 

 harbour was made. When the pier needed repairs, 

 the mayor issued orders for the inhabitants to bring 

 loose stones for the work,'' but this method of main- 

 taining the pier does not seem to h.ive been very 

 effective, as in 1565 it was already ruinous. 



The excellence of the harbour of Hartlepool made 

 it a centre for most of the fighting on the northern 

 coasts from the Scotch wars onwards. Its history 

 was in consequence a turbulent one down to the 

 17th century. In the 14th century the seamen of 

 the port were hampered by pirates. Richard de la 

 More, in 1316, was sailing from Hartlepool to 

 Berwick with a cargo of flour, corn and salt for the 

 English garrison there. Pirates forced him to take 

 refuge in Warkworth Harbour, where the inhabitants 

 seized his ship, carried away its cargo, and refused to 

 give the ship up." In 1345 Nicholas and William 

 Nesbit obtained licence to sail from Hartlepool with 

 two ships. La Nicho/as and La Catelyn, to destroy the 

 numerous pirates then at sea in ships of war, and 

 convoy the king's subjects safely across. Afterwards 

 they were to repair on the king's service to Ports- 

 mouth." Possibly these were two out of the five 

 ships from Hartlepool, with crews amounting to 145 

 men, which formed part of Edward the Third's great 

 fleet at Calais in 1346-7.'" 



Towards the end of the 1 4th century a feud broke out 

 between the Cliffords, who were the lords of Hartle- 

 pool, and the Lumleys, who held Stranton (q.v.). 

 The origin of the quarrel is unknown, but the men 

 of Hartlepool supported the cause of their lady, Maud 

 widow of Roger de Clifford." In 1391 Sir Ralph 

 de Lumley, kt., brought an action against Robert de 

 Mapilton and 117 others, chiefly inhabitants of 

 Hartlepool, for carrying off from Stranton one of 

 Lumley 's boats, destroying his property, ejecting his 

 tenants and assaulting his servants." The affair 

 became so serious that the king interfered and ordered 

 the Bishop of Durham to bring the dissensions to an 

 end." In 1394 the mayor, bailiffs and principal 

 burgesses of the town gave a recognizance to the 

 bishop of 1,000 marks to do no hurt or wrong to 

 Sir Ralph de Lumley, his men, or his tenants. Ralph 

 de Lumley gave a similar recognizance.^ In 1 403 



" Sharp, Hitt. cf Harihpool, 151 ; cf. 

 plan of the town Bhowing the walls in 

 1639(5. P. Dom. Chas. I, ccccxii, 57 [I J), 

 and another small plan in 1664 (Ibid. 

 Cha«. II, cix, 73 [I]). In 1639 it wai 

 already only a tradition that ships ha i 

 been within the walls (Ibid. Chas. I, 

 ccccxii, ^7). The report of 1664 (Ibid. 

 Chas. II, cix, 73) remarks that the 

 situation of the town was strong with an 

 •old strong wall' (much decayed) run- 

 ning on the south side of the town as 

 far as the pier, whilst from the fier to 

 the wall on the north side of the neck of 

 land the coast was in most places in- 



accessible except for passages made down 

 to the sea by fishermen. 



" Their positions are given by Hutch- 

 inson, op. cit. iii, 28 ; cf. Sharp, Hiit. of 

 Hartlepool^ 1 53. See also illustration, 

 ibid. 14.1. 



*- See Hart parish. 



'^ Sharp, Hiii. of Hartlepool, 98 n. 



" Ibid, map facing p. 169. 



'^ Chan. Inq. p.m. 15 Hen. VI, no. 55. 



*« Anct. Pet. (P.R.O.), 2537. 



^' Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 46, m. 6 ; printed 

 by Sharp, Hht. of Hartlepool, App. p. ii. 



«Ca/. Pat. 1313-17, p. 597. 



*' Ibid. 1343-5, p. 555. The mariners 



266 



of Scotland and Calais had united to 

 attack the mariners and fishermen of 

 Hartlepool (Cal. Close, 1343-6, p. 579; 

 cf. also Cal. Pat. 1358-61, p. 427). 



"> Hakluyt, l^oyagei (1903 cd.), i, 

 297-8 ; cf. commission of the Bishop of 

 Durham to Reginald de Donyngton and 

 John de Nesbyt to impress ships at 

 Hartlepool for the northern fleet in 

 April 1345 (Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 29, 

 m. 18 d.). 



*' y.C.H. Dur. ii, 255. 



" Dur. Rec. cl. 3, R. 33, m. 6, 6 d. 



" Ibid. m. 12. 



'< Ibid. m. 1 2d. 



