‘The end of the world’ in 1854
accidental.
“But about three minutes after, it was followed by an awful explosion, which rocked with a fearful sound the whole town to its foundations, and which no description can give the slightest idea of.
“The burning piles of brimstone, with bricks, stones, metal, and articles of every description were thrown up with the force of a volcanic eruption, only to fall with corresponding momentum upon the dense masses of the people assembled, and upon all the surrounding habitations.
“The crowd upon the Quayside and Sandhill was mown down as if by a discharge of artillery, many being rendered insensible from the shock, others temporarily suffocated by the vapour, and many more wounded by the flying debris.
“An appalling wail of distress arose in all directions, but many were far removed from all earthly suffering, and their voices were never heard again.”
Later, it was said that the impoverished, God-fearing folk of Tyneside thought the end of the world was upon them.
So immense was the explosion in the middle of the night, it was heard as far away as Hartlepool, while people in North and South Shields thought it was an earthquake.
In Gateshead, the resultant fire spread to a vinegar works, timber yard, a flour mill, and homes. On the Newcastle side the flames took hold, destroying houses, shops and pubs.
With local fire engines destroyed in the catastrophe, and local firemen seriously injured, fire crews were summoned from South Shields, Sunderland and as far away as Durham, Hexham and Berwick.
In the days immediately after the disaster as the fires subsided, the grisly task of recovering the dead began.
In the burned-out buildings, many bodies were disfigured and mangled and could only be identified by personal possessions such as watches, dog whistles, and snuff boxes. The final death toll was 53.
Many buildings on both sides of the river were destroyed. Striking early photographs show some of the devastation unfurled on Newcastle Quayside.
It’s interesting to note that had disaster not struck in 1854, the area would have looked very different today and we would have had a Quayside boasting many 17th and 18th century buildings and features.