Ouseburn, Lower Steenberg's Yard, oil depot

HER Number:
11743

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Ouseburn, Lower Steenberg's Yard, oil depot

Place:
Ouseburn

Map Sheet:
NZ26SE

Class:
Commercial

Site Type: Broad:

Site Type: Specific:
Warehouse

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Demolished Building

Description:
This building was probably built around 1860. It was possibly the slaughterhouse owned by a Mr Burns. Newcastle Council bought it in 1876 and it is possible that part of it continued as a slaughterhouse, but the main part was a marshalling area for the cattle who had been quarantined for 24 hours in the adjacent Cattle Sanatorium (HER 4685) ready for them to be collected by their owners. The Sanatorium became disused from 1900 and the warehouse building was possibly used as a store or sawmill by timber exporters Robson and Miller. On mid C20 maps it is labelled as an oil works (possibly owned by R.M. Rodgers, Oil Merchant from Elswick Court) and warehouse (owned by Steenbergs). The building was demolished in 2000 but part of the rear wall survives covered in white ceramic tiles. The wall fronting onto Ouse Street retains openings which may have been used for pipes for pumping out the finished oil. The oil business ended around 1950.

Easting:
2632

Northing:
6430

Grid Reference:
NZ26326430

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Brian Nichol, 2002, Steenberg's Lower Yard The Early Years, pages 10-12 (unpublished typescript); Ove Arup & Partners, 1998, Lower Steenberg's Yard - Byker, Engineering Study; 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map, 1896; Patrick Parsons Ltd, 2002, Cattle Sanatorium, Structural Assessment; The Archaeological Practice Ltd. 2010, Maynard's Toffee Factory, Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne - Archaeological Evaluation; The Archaeological Practice Ltd. 2010, Maynard's Toffee Factory, Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne - Archaeological Assessment and Building Recording