Wylam Wagonway

HER Number

1032

District

Newcastle

Site Name

Wylam Wagonway

Place

Newburn

Map Sheet

NZ16NE

Class

Transport

Site Type: Broad

Tramway Transport Site

Site Type: Specific

Wagonway

General Period

POST MEDIEVAL

Specific Period

Hanoverian 1714 to 1837

Form of Evidence

Earthwork

Description

A 5 mile long waggonway linking Wylam Colliery with staithes at Lemington, thought to have been built in 1748, possibly to the design of William Brown of Throckley for John Blackett. Running for a large part parallel to the river bank the waggonway was level and built to a wide 5 foot gauge with originally timber rails (3.5 inches wide, 4.5 inches deep) attached to stone sleepers at 18 inch intervals. The waggonway was the scene of some of the early locomotive experiments, notably those of Thomas Hedley in 1813. Much of the waggonway was incorporated into the Scotswood, Newburn and Wylam Railway completed in July 1875. The railway worked until March 1968, and the tracks were lifted in April 1972.

Easting

414800

Northing

565500

Grid Reference

NZ414800565500

Sources

<< HER 1032 >> P.R.B. Brooks, 1979, Where Railways Were Born, The Story of Wylam and its Railway Pioneers, 3rd Edition; I. Ayris & S.M. Linsley, 1994, A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Tyne and Wear, p 8; G. Brogan, 2004, Tyne and Wear Museums, Wylam Waggonway, Wylam Archaeological Evaluation and Watching Brief; W.W. Tomlinson, 1914, The North Eastern Railway - Its Rise and Development, p 15; Alan Williams Archaeology, 2012, Waggonways North of River Tyne: Tyne and Wear HER Enhancement Project; Northumberland Record Office, Plan of the Lordship of Newburn, 1767, Zan Bell M17/197/A plan 24; North East Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineering: All Watson Papers prefixed NRO/3410/Watson 23/21: Estate plan of enclosed lands at Throckley, property of Greenwich Hospital, showing coal pits. 1781; Turnbull, L. 2009 Coals from Newcastle: An Introduction to the Northumberland and Durham Coalfield, p 125