Hetton Company's Railway

HER Number:
2848

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Hetton Company's Railway

Place:
Bishopwearmouth

Map Sheet:
NZ35NE NZ35NW

Class:
Transport

Site Type: Broad:
Railway Transport Site

Site Type: Specific:
Railway

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
The northern end of The Hetton Company's Railway line was at the Hetton Drops (HER ref. 2808). There were two Coal Depots (HER ref. 2818 and HER ref. 2850) in Sunderland. The southern terminus of the line was Hetton Colliery (HER ref. 2989). The line was opened from Hetton Colliery to Sunderland in 1822 and was the first complete line engineered by George Stephenson. It used stationary engines and self-acting inclines and was the first line in the world designed for locomotives, which worked the first 1½ miles from the colliery. At over 8 miles long it was also the world's longest railway when it opened. With the exception of a short run from Silksworth to the staiths, the line closed in 1959.

Easting:
3899

Northing:
5764

Grid Reference:
NZ38995764

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 2848 >> 1st edition Ordnance Survey Map, c.1855, 6 inch scale, Durham, 8 N.T. Sinclair in Milburn & Miller, (eds) 1988, Sunderland, River, Town & People, Sunderland's Railways, p.26,27 C.E. Mountford, 1970, The Development of Colliery Railways in Co. Durham, p.13 I. Ayris, 1980, Industrial Archaeology Review Elemore Colliery and The Hetton Coal Company, Vol 4 No 1, p.6-35; Archaeological Services Durham University, 2012, Broom Hill, Hetton-le-Hole, Tyne and Wear - Archaeological Assessment; Alan Williams Archaeology, 2013, Waggonways to the South Bank of the River Tyne and to the River Wear; Hetton Local & Natural History Society, 2015, The Hetton Village Atlas