Dow House, South Crescent, Seaham
Seaman's mission with war memorial
Type: War Memorial
Dow House, South Crescent, Seaham used to be the Seamens Mission Church and contained a decorative reredos screen dedicated to the men of Seaham who gave their lives at sea during the First World War. It is unclear if this memorial is still in situ.
Buildings show up here on the west side of South Crescent on the first edition Ordnance Survey maps of 1856-65 labelled as a Fish Market. It was documented that a Seaman’s Mission Church opened here in 1908, replacing the former Seaman’s Bethel in the dock. Also known as the Seaman’s Mission, the Church was possibly partly managed by Joseph Richardson in 1913.
Surrounding the Dow House were essentials to social life within Seaham: a public house named the Londonderry Arms (which was owned by J. Nimmo and Son Ltd. Of Castle Eden), and a grocer named AM Chambers. As a Mission Church, the building contained a decorative reredos screen dedicated to men of Seaham who gave their lives at sea during the First World War.
The Mission Church later re-opened elsewhere as the Seafarers’ Centre in 1978. The former building became the Headquarters for Seaham District Scout Association, renamed Dow House and opened by Prince Charles. Streetview images show that the building is still called Dow House today with quite a modern looking façade suggesting periods of rebuild and redesign.
Relevant Sources:
D/X 1193/14/6
20 December 1912
Conveyance of freehold property from Thomas Chilton, Eleanor Reed Thorman to J. Nimmo and Son Ltd. Of Castle Eden
North East War Memorials Project:
http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=10610
Keys to the Past
http://www.keystothepast.info/article/10339/Site-Details?PRN=D49555
L 1/26/1
Correspondence to Lieutenancy concerning the visit of the Prince of Wales to Dow House, the Headquarters for Seaham District Scout Association
Plans and Images:
D/X 1330/1-15
Records of AM Chambers, grocers, 1 South Crescent
D/Ph 390/1
Copy photograph of the exterior of the Londonderry Arms on South Crescent in 1930s
Civil Parish: Dawdon
Contributed by Tullia Fraser | Durham County Council Archaeology Section
