In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Marsden like this:
MARSDON BAY, a small bay on the coast of Durlham; 2½ miles SE of the mouth of the river Tuyne. Marsdon Rocks here are a wild assemblage of freestone masses. These rocks, says Grant, "shattered by storms, have parted, from age to age, with vast fragmeuts that stand in every variety of grotesque form and combination, pillars and tombs and towers, ramparts and huge bridges, and trinmphal arches, through the black green hollow of which the billows roar and dash." One of them, called by pre-eminence the Marsdon Rock, and lying 270 feet from the shore, is pierced with a lofty arch, under which boats can pass. ...
A public house, called the Grotto, with large quaint rooms excavated out of the live rock, is at the foot of a cliff at the shore, is approached by a narrow flight of steps down the cliff, and is a favourite resort of picnic parties.
Additional information about this locality is available for South Shields
Marsden through time
Marsden is now part of South Tyneside district. Click here for graphs and data of how South Tyneside has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Marsden itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Marsden, in South Tyneside and County Durham | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/25863
Date accessed: 27th April 2024
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