OS map of the site in 1865. The ropery is in the centre down Willington Gut. Messrs Hood Haggie & Son opened and operated the site at this stage.
Wallsend to the left is burgeoning as an industrial town while the village of Rosehill is blooming village. The old waggonway through Rosehill has been demolished at this point, replaced with Rosehill Road.
The area of Willington, post-war, has been subsumed by the surrounded arrears and is no longer geographically a stand-alone village. The area must have been a hive of industry, with the works at the bottom of the hill and the long line of docks across the Tyne.
OS map of the site in 1865. The ropery is in the centre down Willington Gut. Messrs Hood Haggie & Son opened and operated the site at this stage.
Name: Willington Rope Works
Region: Willington, North Tyneside
Date of Origin: 18th Century
Site Type: Ropery Works
Condition: Demolished
Status: The original site is now a small wood. It is not known if any foundations still exist. There is still a rope works close by, operated by Bridon International.
Last Updated: 25/05/2020
Address: Ropery Lane, Willington
"Willington has a long history of rope making as testified by the name of the nearby Ropery Lane. A ropery was founded at Willington Quay by William and Edward Chapman in 1789 where William Chapman invented a revolutionary machine that improved the efficiency of making ropes. In 1843 the firm was taken over by Robert Hood Haggie, a Scot who had lived on Tyneside since 1800 and established a rope works at Gateshead in the 1830s.
The Willington rope works later became part of a firm called British Ropes which now trades as Bridon International." - England's North East
