Cowpen is situated on the southern bank of the River Blyth. The opening up of the Cowpen North and South pits at the end of the eighteenth century led to the building of Cowpen Square in order to house the coal miners and their families who came to Cowpen to work in these pits.

The name Cowpen comes from Old Norse and is pronounced coop’n.

When Cowpen Square was built, the land on which Cowpen Quay would be constructed had not yet been reclaimed. It then consisted of mud which flooded at high tide. Cowpen Square thus had to be protected from flooding by means of an earth mound which was built around it.

The expansion of the township in the nineteenth century was dramatic and was almost entirely due to the development of coal mining. The population of Cowpen in 1801 was 853. By 1841 this had risen to 2,464, and by 1851 to 4,045. By 1849 the quantity of coal leaving the port of Blyth annually had reached more than 250,000 tons.

The houses in Cowpen Square were rudimentary by today’s standards. They had one downstairs room which was long and narrow, with a brick floor. This was illuminated by one window about three feet square. The houses had no stairs, just a ladder which led through a hole in the ceiling to a garret under the roof timbers. The garret was lit by a small window at floor level. Because the houses were so small, the inner square itself became a much needed social space for the miners and their families. Games such as quoits and pitch and toss were played (and gambled upon). Cockles were gathered from the adjacent mud and a type of eel known as a Sandal would sometimes be caught. 

Cowpen Square stood until shortly after the end of the Second World War when it was demolished.

Further articles about Besfords with links to Cowpen:

Main image: Cowpen Square, the River Blyth, the North Side Staiths and environs, Blyth, 1935. Image © Historic England