Description

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 26/09/2012

288/0/10006
08-DEC-09

OVERTON
SECOND TERRACE
Quay Marker Stone outside number 20

II

A former quay marker stone that formerly marked the southern boundary of the early C18 port at Sunderland.

MATERIALS: Sandstone.

PLAN: The stone is rectangular in plan.

EXTERIOR: A former quay marker stone that is now used as a gatepost to No. 20 Cotton Tree Cottage. It stands about 1.4m high and is tapered, measuring about 0.5m wide at the base and 0.4m wide at the top, and is about 0.3m thick. The top of the stone slopes down slightly from front to back. Towards the top of the stone's river-facing east side there is a carved letter `S' beneath which is a carved date of '173' (the last number is illegible but may have been a 6, 9 or a 0). There are other illegible markings near the top of the stone, some of which appear to be rope wear marks while others appear to be the product of tool or knife sharpening.

HISTORY: The former quay marker stone at Sunderland, on the west bank of the River Lune some six miles downstream of Lancaster, is thought to have originally marked the southern limit of the early C18 port that was formerly the disembarkation point for the city of Lancaster. The port was built by Robert Lawson (1690-1773), a Quaker businessman, who is credited with developing warehouses, an anchor smithy, a blockmaker's shop and a rope walk here. The port actively dealt with ships from the West Indies and North America, handling cotton, sugar and other goods, and it is reputedly where the first cotton crop to enter Britain arrived. The port was also involved in the triangular slave trade and the grave of `Sambo', a boy who died here in 1736, is located in a field a short distance to the west. Shipping here declined markedly after construction of a quay and warehouse facilities close to the centre of Lancaster in the mid-1740s, and all but ceased with the opening of Glasson Dock on the opposite bank of the River Lune to Sunderland in 1787. The quay marker stone now functions as a gatepost. Its precise original location is uncertain.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The former quay marker stone at Sunderland is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It provides a tangible link with the former C18 port at Sunderland that was the precursor of the later and ultimately more successful C18 ports at Lancaster and Glasson Dock
* It has group value with the many other C18 and C19 listed buildings that form the present settlement of Sunderland
* It has group value with the mid-C18 listed wharf that fronts First Terrace at Sunderland.

Reasons for Listing

The former quay marker stone at Sunderland is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* It provides a tangible link with the former early C18 port at Sunderland that was the precursor of the later nearby and ultimately more successful C18 ports at Lancaster and Glasson Dock
* It has group value with the many other C18 and C19 listed buildings that form the present settlement of Sunderland
* It has group value with the mid-C18 listed wharf that fronts First Terrace at Sunderland.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672716

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Setting up a Listed Building Heritage Partnership Agreement: Historic England Advice Note 5
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2