Tyne and Wear HER(1083): Killingworth Wagonway - Details
1083
N Tyneside
Killingworth Wagonway
Killingworth
NZ27SE NZ36NW
Transport
Tramway Transport Site
Wagonway
POST MEDIEVAL
Hanoverian 1714 to 1837
Documentary Evidence
Killingworth Moor Waggonway (HER 1160) was extended to the north-west in the 1800s with the opening of Killingworth Colliery’s West Moor Pit in 1802, followed in 1808 and 1820 by branch lines to Killingworth High Pit (HER 1060) and Burradon Colliery (HER 1080) respectively. Killingworth Waggonway is famous for its association with George Stephenson’s development of steam locomotives at Killingworth Colliery beginning with 'Blucher' in 1814. Along with William Losh, the senior partner of Walker ironworks, Stephenson also helped develop the patented Losh Rail in 1819, with which the whole of the waggonway was eventually re-laid. By 1822, five steam locomotives were working the route in winter and four in summer (Warn 1976, 17-18). Access to the River Tyne was altered in 1820 when a new route was opened to Wallsend Staiths (HER 15351). Prior to this, the fall down to the staiths at Willington had been converted into an inclined plane.
426820
570890
NZ426820570890
<< HER 1083 >> 1st edition Ordnance Survey map, 1864, 6 inch scale, Northumberland, 80;
C. R. Warn, 1976, Wagonways & Early Railways of Northumberland, 1605-1840 p.10;
I. M. Ayris, Northumberland Mining Records Survey;
C.E. Lee, 1949, Tyneside Tramroads of Northumberland 1947-9, Transactions of the Newcomen Society, p.212; W.W. Tomlinson, 1914, The North Eastern Railway - Its Rise and Development, pp 27-30; Alan Williams Archaeology, 2012, Waggonways North of River Tyne: Tyne and Wear HER Enhancement Project; DSJ Timoney, 1983, Waggonways of Tyne and Wear, p 96, route 26; Turnbull, L. 2012 Railways Before George Stephenson, route 14B; Archaeological Services Durham University, 2012, Hadrian Riverside, Wallsend, Tyne and Wear - archaeological assessment