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County Population: 1,150,000 (estimate)
The
county of Tyne and Wear is named after the two major rivers in the area,
the Tyne to the north, which passes through the city of Newcastle prior
to reaching the North Sea, and the Wear to the south, which empties into
the North Sea at the coastal city of Sunderland. The county was once part
of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria, then the smaller county of
Northumberland, then later still it became part of County Durham. Following
local government reorganisation in 1974 the new county of Tyne and Wear
was created, consisting of the two historic shipbuilding cities of Newcastle
and Sunderland, and a few smaller towns along the coast.
As
with other counties in the north of England, the area is rich in history
and has been fought over countless times. The city of Newcastle was founded
on a fort at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall (a hand built stone wall
that runs the whole width of the country, designed to defend Roman England
from the marauding Scots), and Sunderland was founded on the site of a
'sundered' abbey at Wearmouth in 674 AD. Lead was exported from Newcastle
as early as the 12th century, and both cities greatly prospered from the
shipment of coal during the 17th century. The development of the ports
in the seventeen hundreds lead to the cities being massive UK ship building
centres during the 20th century.
The
shipyards have now closed and coal mining has almost disappeared, replaced
by modern industries such as electronics, communications and information
technology. The history of the area remains however, and can been seen
in many ancient buildings, including the remains of a 12th century castle
and 13th century town walls in Newcastle, and the later fine architecture
of 19th century Tyneside, including The Theatre Royal, the third base
of the Royal Shakespeare Company. The area has invested heavily in modernisation
and offers many fine tourist attractions, including Gateshead's Metro
Centre (Europe's largest covered shopping centre), museums, art galleries,
sporting venues and restaurants.
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