History of the River Wear

Durham Cathedral on the River Wear

It is much said that the Wear (or 'Vedra', to use its Roman name) was used by the Romans to supply their army at Chester le Street.

In the late 16th century the salt trade was booming and this provided cargo for the boats on the River Wear.

Throughout the 17th century the city of Sunderland more or less had the monopoly on the exportation of coal, and the river would have been used for its primary transportation from Sunderland to the East Coast and even as far as London.

By the 18th century the Port was booming, initially because of the coal trade, and later on due to the emerging shipbuilding industry, and this transformed the Wear into a truly important industrial river.

Later, from the mid-19th century onwards, steam ships became a regular sight along the river, alongside the less common sailing ships.