Recently been looking through my old archived photos and totally forgot about this absolute gem of a place.
Access at the time was extremely easy.
I was extremely lucky to get inside here as now it's near impossible to to do a revisit. Just wish at the time I'd had a camera as my phone at the time wasnt great, so apologies for the lack of quality
History of the Place
Within the village is a large Victorian, Gothic Revival former Water pumping station, designed by Thomas Hawksley for the Sunderland and South Shields Water Company.[1] The engine house contains a pair of 72" single-acting non-rotative Cornish beam engines by Davy Bros of Sheffield, dating from the 1870s when the complex was built. (Pumping engines of this period were more often of a double-acting rotative design (as seen at nearby Ryhope); the use of Cornish engines here seems to be due to the great depth of the well - some 450 feet.) The site suffered for many years from subsidence due to nearby mine workings; this in part led to the engines being decommissioned in the 1940s, and to the demolition in the 1960s of the striking campanile-like top section of the central tower/chimney. (The surviving chimney tower at Bestwood Notts., by the same architect, is of an almost identical design.)
The pumping station site was bought in 1995 with a view by its owners to transform it into a pub; however the building became Grade II* listed, which allegedly stopped its development. Other options are now being explored by the owners.
Thanks for looking.
Access at the time was extremely easy.
I was extremely lucky to get inside here as now it's near impossible to to do a revisit. Just wish at the time I'd had a camera as my phone at the time wasnt great, so apologies for the lack of quality
History of the Place
Within the village is a large Victorian, Gothic Revival former Water pumping station, designed by Thomas Hawksley for the Sunderland and South Shields Water Company.[1] The engine house contains a pair of 72" single-acting non-rotative Cornish beam engines by Davy Bros of Sheffield, dating from the 1870s when the complex was built. (Pumping engines of this period were more often of a double-acting rotative design (as seen at nearby Ryhope); the use of Cornish engines here seems to be due to the great depth of the well - some 450 feet.) The site suffered for many years from subsidence due to nearby mine workings; this in part led to the engines being decommissioned in the 1940s, and to the demolition in the 1960s of the striking campanile-like top section of the central tower/chimney. (The surviving chimney tower at Bestwood Notts., by the same architect, is of an almost identical design.)
The pumping station site was bought in 1995 with a view by its owners to transform it into a pub; however the building became Grade II* listed, which allegedly stopped its development. Other options are now being explored by the owners.
Thanks for looking.