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In search of Pirates Wreckers & Smugglers

In the North of England we very rarely here stories of slavery or pirates although we all know they where here. We have searched high and low in history to find a name related to piracy, but now we may have one. As we go on the search of Edward Robinson, a man born and raised in Newcastle in around 1690s, he became part of a Stede Bonnet’s "The Gentleman’s Pirate" crew and eventually ended up hung in Carolina USA  for his crimes in 1718, but within his life he sailed with Blackbeard and wrecked many ships and killed many men.

Now we are in search of Edward Robinson the Newcastle pirate and supposed ship wrecker, so we have arranged 2 paranormal investigations to search for this man, the first to be held in Red House, Offshore 44 and Bob Trollops where we believe he could of spent time on the site as a young man in what we believe to have been a house for abandoned children, then here at Marsden Grotto the well know location for smuggling and wrecking, pirates and murder!

So join us as we search for the real pirates of Newcastle and the North East England and we use Psychic art, mediumship as YOU  hunt out a very dark past!

Location: The Marsden Grotto Coast Road South Shields Tyne and Wear NE34 7BS

Origin of the haunting: Murder's, Smuggling, Piracy, Suicide, Tragedy, general life

About Wrecking: Wrecking was well known in Devon and Cornwall where the rocky coastline, and strong prevailing onshore winds helped wreck many merchant ships and warships, but it is rumored that ships were sometimes attracted by false lights on the shore around Marsden were lights have been said to be used sometimes to lead ships into disaster. Then, rather than helping shipwrecked sailors, the wreckers often murdered and stripped the unsuspecting crew of any valuables and possessions. A 12th century law had said that if no man or animal survived a wreck then the owners had no claim on it, so the coastal communities had no incentive to rescue seamen - in fact quite the opposite. In 1735 a law was passed to make it an offense to make false lights, but no one was prosecuted as a result. In 1769 William Pearse was hanged at Launceston in Cornwall for wrecking. It was not until after a case in the Court of Appeal in 1870 that rewards were made for rescuing people.

About Smuggling History:

Picture by G Morland

The history of smuggling, wrecking and piracy could not be written without reference to its illegal seafaring association in the Tyne and the Wear area. There are many legends of the activities of smugglers operating in the area, as Marsden was a key landing place to smuggle goods into the area. 18 miles to Newcastle and 8 miles Sunderland, the smugglers  had a finger in every pub, Inn and tavern in the North, there was whiskey coming in through border smuggling and ships dropping goods near Souter Light House.

Hovering: Ships of all sizes, both foreign and english, sometimes hovered off the coast for several days while gangs were organized for an illegal landing, and until the first of several "hovering" acts was passed in 1719 there was nothing the customs men could do. If questioned by the skipper of a revenue vessel, the captains usually claimed they were bound for some place which was of no concern to the officers, such as the Channel Islands, France or Holland.

The act made hovering illegal within six miles of the coast and many smugglers now found it safer to bring their goods ashore immediately and, when necessary, hide them among rocks, in hedges and ditches and coastal cottages, or even bury them on the beach. A useful alternative in the case of smuggled wine and spirits was to dump them in the sea and collect them later - a method which was to become standard practice among later generations of smugglers and which became known as "sowing the crop".

 A Ghostly tail from the Grotto: One day a smuggler walked into the Grotto Inn off the beach and ordered some ale . He was still drinking at the bar when a soldier entered. The smuggler , mistaking the soldier for a Customs Officer , flattened him , and took to his heels along the beach . Getting to his feet , the soldier raised his musket and discharged its load hitting the fleeing smuggler in the back of the neck . He fell to the sand - stone dead . The landlord drained the the mans tankard and nailed it directly onto the cavern rock around the bar saying "This tankard is cursed . Let no man drink from it otherwise evil will befall them too ! " . From that night on , the ghost of the smuggler visits the Grotto Inn . So often has it been seen that landlords have left a drink in the tankard at night and by morning it has been drunk !! .

Methods of smuggling in the second half of the 18th century

Customs records show that in 1764 ships of the East India Company smuggled tea into this country estimated at seven million pounds annually. Smugglers had by now refined the art of hiding goods and of avoiding duties on their imported goods. Below are some of the methods used:

Tea cases were fitted between the vessel's timbers and were made to resemble the floors of the ship.18 lbs of tea could be hidden under the cape or petticoat trouser worn by the fishermen and pilots of the vessels.

Cotton bags made into the shape of the crown of a hat, a cotton waistcoat, and a cotton bustle and thigh pieces carried in all 30lbs. of tea.

Tobacco, another taxed commodity, was valuable contraband. Made into ropes of two strands, it was coiled with the real rope in the lugger, and was even put into a special compartment in casks of imported bones which were used for manufacturing glue.

The wooden fenders slung over the sides of a ship were hollowed out and filled with tobacco.

Spirits, both brandy and gin, had intriguing journeys into our ports.

Brandy was chiefly imported from France. Excellent cognac was shipped from Roscoff. Gin, popular with the troops who had taken part in the Dutch wars, was imported from the Low Countries.

Flushing exported gin chiefly to the East Coast. Brandy or gin tubs, roped singly or in pairs and anchored with sinking stones, could be cut off easily and left with markers if Revenue Cutters were in sight. Tubs of spirits were packed into the hollowed keels of boats, hidden under false bottoms, or fitted into rafts or punts which were floated on a flood tide to persons waiting on the shore."The kegs of spirits, roped together, were sunk and marked with a float, about one quarter of a mile from the shore, The kegs were floated ashore by Smugglers, as by this way it was easier to sink them if a coastguard arrived.

About the Grotto 

"Death was never far from Peters abode and even today lives are lost in the area of the Grotto . In 1836 workmen found a skeleton with a leaden bullet lodged within the ribcage proving beyond doubt that Marsden was indeed a violent place in days gone by . Visitor's have been cut off by the tide and many a life has been lost trying to scale the treacherous rock face"

Background:  The History of this unique cave bar, gastropub and restaurant is steeped in the colorful, bygone days of cruel seas, hard-bitten smugglers, rowdy wenches and cantankerous ghosts.

A man who became known to locals as ‘Jack the Blaster’ was the first to live in the caves. Originally an Allendale miner, he moved to Marsden in 1782 to work in the local quarry.

Out of a small cave, he blasted his way to a bigger one which he and his wife made into a home. It is thought he was already eighty years old when he moved into the cave. He and his wife made an unusual pair, known for their eccentric choice of habitation, and it didn’t take long for people to start visiting the curious pair in their strange new home.
The steep, zig-zagging stairs are thought to be his handy work and were often referred to as ‘Jack the Blaster’s stairs’. 

Obviously one to make the most of an occasion, Jack the Blaster began supplying food and drink to his visitors, for a profit of course.

It has been variously suggested that he was embroiled in many nefarious smuggling activities. Not difficult to understand since the coastline’s caves had long been a practical place for smugglers to hide their contraband cargo. Jack’s grotto must have been an ideal place for weary smugglers to shake off the cold, fill their stomachs and sink a tankard or two.

While Jack and his wife were certainly the two to found the grotto, it was its second resident, Peter Allan, who had the spirit and foresight to make a far more accessible and developed enterprise of it. He too had worked in the local limestone quarry and struck upon the notion of living in the cave while similarly providing refreshments to the many visitors who came to the beach. Winning a modest sum at the races, he set up his rudimentary enterprise and, in 1828, used the profits to set about a proper large scale excavation of the cave which Jack the Blaster had begun. 

His venture drew unfavorable interest from the HM Customs office, since his claim that his was to be an honest enterprise was somewhat questionable given the history of the coast and the Grotto.

Although under close scrutiny, he persisted and was grudgingly granted a license to carry and sell ale. His excavations took years, but he eventually succeeded creating a cave of two-story height which included a kitchen and a ballroom itself. Like Jack before him, he may well have participated in a few illicit dealings.

(Bellow The original Ballroom , later to become the Main Lounge)

He turned Jack’s original cave into an inn. During the excavations, some 18 skeletons were discovered. Their presence was quickly ascribed to the all too common end of those engaged in unlawful dealings.

In 1848 a dispute over land ownership resulted in Allan being charged rent for his home and inn. This caused him a great deal of misery, leading to a funk which endured until his death the following year. However, his family of eight children and a wife ran the business successfully until 1865 when a cliff face collapsed and did considerable damage. Although they saw to the reinforcement of the inn to safeguard against further damage, they eventually left the area in 1874.

Various companies set up business in the Grotto and did lots of refurbishment to the interior and to the outside building, cosmetically and structurally, but it was Vaux Breweries who finally installed the lift and used the Grotto for over a century.

No story of smugglers, skeletons and a character named Jack the Blaster would be complete without a ghost. Indeed, the place has more than one.

 The most popular local legend is that of a smuggler who betrayed his confederates to HM Customs. Upon being found out, his old friends hung him in nearby cave called Smuggler’s Hole to taunt him and pelt him with whatever was at hand.

It is said that his wails can still be heard. The Grotto’s reputation for being haunted aroused the curiosity of Paranormal Investigators who have claimed they found no less than seven separate tortured souls.

Haunting Type:

Apparition’s, ghostly voices, wailing cry's, unseen but heard foot steps, men chanting, violent attacks, ecto-mist, orbs and black shadows.

Full Investigation NOT yet undertaken:

Findings: TBA

EVP:TBA

Foot Note: This has to be one of the best locations in the North East, but its a hidden gem and not really supported by the local council. This place is a must for visitors, just to see the beach and the caves but if you visit, get a book on smuggling and Marsden sit with an ice cold drink and let your imagination run free. There is a ample size car park and its not far from the main beach at shields.