The little Sunderland cottage which stood on a hill made out of ship waste

A legacy of Sunderland’s history can be seen in this 75 year old photo.

It shows a building known as The Cottage on Glass House but behind it lay a story of Sunderland in the making.

It once housed a Wearside MP

The cottage was built in Glass House Hill which was itself a man made creation.

Glass House Hill was one of many such mounds on the banks of the Wear were created by the continuous tipping of ballast brought by ships to the port in the great days of sail.

Three cemeteries were formed

Three cemeteries at least were formed by ballast - Monkwearmouth Parish, the Gill cemetery, and the old burying ground at Ayre's Quay.

Glass House Hill was a familiar sight to the shipyard workers of Pallion.

It had another claim to fame. John Candlish, the Sunderland MP from 1866 to 1874 and glass bottle manufacturer, lived there.

The photo of the cottage was taken by a Sunderland Echo photographer in April 1949.

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