Philadelphia, Tyne and Wear

Not to be confused with the former village of Philadelphia near New York, Tyne and Wear in North Tyneside.

Philadelphia
Philadelphia Spiritualist Church, Chapel Row
Philadelphia Location within Tyne and Wear
OS grid reference	NZ333522
Metropolitan borough	City of Sunderland
Metropolitan county	Tyne and Wear
Region	North East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HOUGHTON LE SPRING
Postcode district	DH4
Dialling code	0191
Police	Northumbria
Fire	Tyne and Wear
Ambulance	North East
UK Parliament	Houghton and Washington East
List of places UK England Tyne and Wear 54°51′54″N1°29′00″W / 54.865°N 1.4833°W / 54.865; -1.4833

Philadelphia is a village in the City of Sunderland, England. ^[1] It lies on the A182 road between Newbottle and Shiney Row. It is named after the American city of Philadelphia. ^{[2] [3]}

History

Unlike nearby Washington, it post-dates its namesake in the United States, being named during the American Revolutionary War either, to commemorate the British capture of the city, ^[4] or to declare allegiance with the cause of colonial independence, although there is no firm evidence either way. ^[5] The village cricket field is named "Bunker Hill", after another famous battle in that war. ^[4]

What may have started as a single farm, expanded substantially by the installing of 2 pits named: 'Margret' or 'Peggy', sunk in the 18th c.; and 'Dorethea' or 'Dolly', sunk in the 1810s. by 1821 the population had risen to 2,306. ^[5] In 1816 the town was described by Robert Surtees, as follows:

A little to the North of Newbottle, below the brow of the hill, lies Philadelphia-Row, one of those settlements provided by the coal-owners for their workmen, who live here as a distinct class in society, almost entirely separated from the agricultural part of the community. These colonies form at every point the strongest contrast to the varied and picturesque appearance of the genuine village—consisting, in general, of long uniform lines of low brick buildings, running along each side of a public road, black with coal-dust.

—  Robert Surtees, The history and antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham (1816) ^{[5] [6]}

Philadelphia was the place of the 1815 Philadelphia train accident, the explosion of the boiler of an early steam locomotive. The number of deaths (16, other sources state 13) was the highest in a railway accident until 1842. ^{[7] [8]}

References

1. "Map and Aerial View of Philadelphia, Tyne and Wear | Co-Curate".
2. "Philadelphia, Tyne and Wear | Co-Curate". co-curate.ncl.ac.uk. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
3. Do, Go Eat (20 March 2021). "8 places with American names in northeast England | Go Eat Do". go-eat-do.com. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
4. "Looking for the beginning and the end of Philadelphia story". The Northern Echo. 20 September 2002. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
5. Green, Adrian (2010). "Houses and Landscape in Early Industrial County Durham". In Faulkner, Tom E.; Berry, Helen; Gregory, Jeremy (eds.). Northern Landscapes: Representations and Realities of North-East England. Boydell & Brewer. ISBN   978-1-84383-541-7 . Retrieved 3 May 2024.
6. Surtees, Robert (1816–40). The history and antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham (1908 ed.). Sunderland: Hills and Company. p. 186. Retrieved 3 May 2024.
7. Hewison, Christian H. (1983). "Chapter 2: From the Beginning to 1850". Locomotive Boiler Explosions. David and Charles. p. 26. ISBN   0-7153-8305-1.
8. Hoorelbeke, Pol (10 May 2021). "4. Technological Risks". Process Safety: An Engineering Discipline. p. 148. ISBN   978-3-11-063213-2.