Place:Willington, Northumberland, England

Alt namesWillington Quaysource: neighbouring settlement
TypeTownship, Chapelry, Civil parish, Urban district
Coordinates55°N 1.508°W
Located inNorthumberland, England     (1974 - )
Also located inTyne and Wear, England     (1974 - )
See alsoWallsend, Northumberland, Englandancient borough in which it was a township
Wallsend, Northumberland, Englandcivil parish into which it was absorbed in 1910
source: Family History Library Catalog
source: Family History Library Catalog

In this article Willington and Willington Quay are taken as the same place. At times the community was called Willington, at others Willington Quay. Wikipedia has more of an article on Willington Quay than on Willington and explains its position as an urban district 1894-1910.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Willington from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"WILLINGTON, a township and a chapelry in Walls-end parish, Northumberland. The township lies on the river Tyne, and on the Newcastle and Tynemouth railway, near Howdon [railway] station, and 3 miles WSW of North Shields; and contains [Willington] village, with a post-office under Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and [Willington] Quay, with a post-office under Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Extensive ship-building yards, copper-smelting works, lead-works, fire-brick works, a ropery, and other industrial establishments are at [Willington] Quay. A united Presbyterian church also was built there in 1867: and is in the pointed style, with tower and spire 92 feet high. Robert Stephenson, the civil engineer, was a native; and the Stephenson institute has been erected on the site of his birthplace. Population in 1851: 2,284; in 1861: 3,031. Houses: 399.
"The chapelry was constituted in 1859. Population: 795. Houses: 153. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of Durham. Value: £222. Patron: alternately the Crown and the Bishop. The church is good."

Willington was a township in the ancient parish of Wallsend and became a separate civil parish in 1866. In 1910 the civil parish was abolished and the area was absorbed back into the parish of Wallsend.

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