Marsden was originally a small village, consisting of farms, a few cottages and a lighthouse at Souter Point.

[2] The company built the twin-track South Shields, Marsden, and Whitburn Colliery Railway, leaving the North Eastern Railway line at Westoe Lane, South Shields and travelling to Marsden via two intermediate stations.

The company built a new Marsden village, located between the Lighthouse Quarries and Whitburn Colliery.

Located directly on the cliff top, resulting in an exposed and often weather-beaten experience, many wives refused to move to the village, meaning that most miners lived in South Shields and commuted daily using the newly constructed railway.

By the time of nationalisation in 1945 into the National Coal Board, the site employed just under 1,500 miners.