Blowing Up the Rock
[ Courtesy South Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council,
Development Services Department ]
The word ‘Marsden’ is only a slight corruption of the word "Mares den" and thereby hangs a tail not without interest. In the 9th Century, when this country was under the rule of the Saxons, there lived, near Cleadon, a Thane by the name of Thalphere
 He had only one daughter, of whom, most naturally, he was extremely fond. Her name was Naestra. By accident she met and fell in love with a Danish chieftan, Rolf Hardra, who had come over with the host who had sacked the Abbey at Tynemouth. Her love was reciprocated, but since they could expect nothing but fiery opposition from the girl’s parent, their meetings were necessarily clandestine, and held upon the seashore. Hardra would ride over upon his white mare (the same which gave its name to Whitemare Pool), and leaving the animal to roam at will along the sands, wandered with his love along the beach. His proposal of marriage, the story of which founded the legend of the Popping Stone at Marsden, had almost won Naestra into agreeing to elope with him, when her father, brother and a number of retainers, having discovered their tryst, came upon them. A fierce fight ensued, during which Naestra, in an attempt to save her lover, was killed by her own brother. Hardra avenged her with his next stroke and before he was finally subdued, had accounted for more than one of his enemies. Thalphere himself also falling to the Dane’s sword. After the death of her master, the white mare wandered for some time around the place and was found dead one evening below the cliffs, which have, since then, been known as Marsden, the Mare’s Den.
Marsden Rock is an imposing 100-foot sea stack of magnesium limestone lying approximately 100 yards off the main land of South Shields. The first map to actually show the rock as being isolated from the mainland was that of a Captain Collins in 1693 and was published as "Great Britain’s Coasting Pilot." In 1830, Peter Allan, of Whitburn, along with two assistants, constructed a flight of steps up the side of the rock. The steps took two weeks to erect, and eventually visitors could climb to the top of the rock and purchase refreshments from Mr Allan, who had erected a tent on the top for this purpose.
The rock was climbed by this method many times and in 1903, several choirs were massed on top of the rock to perform a choral service. It is recorded that in 1911 a huge section of the rock collapsed and it was feared that the entire rock would be claimed by the sea. Following many further rock falls and severe erosion by the sea, much of the cavern and corridor systems within the rock have disappeared.
 In 1996, the top section of the famed arch of Marsden Rock collapsed, splitting the rock into two separate stacks. In 1997, following the relentless battering of the North Sea, experts inspected the smaller stack to the south of the main rock and declared that it was so unstable, that it presented a danger of collapsing onto the shore. In the interest of public safety, the decision was made to abolish the smaller stack.
 Owners of the rock, The National Trust, engaged the company Rock Blasting Engineers Ltd of Crook, to carry out the demolition work. Preparation work began on 17 March 1997 and consisted of the boring of many holes around the base of the stack (photo at left) which would later be packed with explosives.
 The drilling work could only take place during low tide because the stack was situated at the low tidal limit, and only a short period of time was available to proceed with the work at each tide. Working at a very low tide, it was anticipated that the stack would be demolished on 21 March. However, due to particularly high low tides and treacherous swells, the preparation work was delayed. Following more favorable weather conditions and more predictable low tides, work was able to proceed at a pace and the drilling work was completed on 25 March.
 On the morning of 26 March, the 81 bored holes were packed with explosives (see photo at left) and made ready for detonating later in the day. To lessen any possible chance of vibration damage to the already eroded Mainland Cliffs and the main stack of Marsden Rock itself, it was decided that the charges should be detonated at high tide: the water absorbing much of the effects of the explosion.
 By late afternoon, a crowd of local residents had assembled along the Coast Road from Marsden Grotto to Souter Point and at 4.00 pm, the small stack, which had for so many years formed the southern support of the famous arch, was brought crashing down into the North Sea. The controlled explosion had, in a matter of seconds, reduced the stack into a 12,000-ton pile of rubble awaiting the passage of time and tide for its dispersal.
 Erosion of the existing stack is continuing and it is expected that the rock will again develop at least one arch. However, this will probably take several hundred years to happen. NOTE: at the extreme left of the photo at left can be seen the electrical hoist structure for the Marsden Grotto, a hotel partially built into the cliffs (see drawing below).
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The limestone cliff formations that dominate much of the coast between Hartlepool and the River Tyne are much in evidence at Marsden to the north of Whitburn (see photo at left). Most notable of the limestone features is the massive Marsden Rock (dead center in the photo at left). This was once within jumping distance of the coast, but is now an isolated limestone stack providing a natural refuge for Kittiwakes, Cormorants, and Fulmars. Set within the coastal caves overlooking the Marsden Rock is the famous Marsden Grotto Public House. Its history begins in 1782, when an Allendale lead miner nicknamed "Jack the Blaster" came to work in the limestone quarries at Marsden and blasted a home for himself and family out of one of the caves of Marsden Bay. Jack became known for his hospitality and his home developed into the Grotto Inn.
