Dial Cottage (George Stephenson's Cottage)

These 3 houses of one storey and an attic, now one residence, were built in the late 18th century/early 19th century in two phases. The earlier build is of sandstone rubble with quoins; the later build (at left) is of coursed squared sandstone with quoins; pantiled roofs with rendered chimneys. A Sundial dated 1816 is set at a slight angle above the door and a memorial tablet to George Stephenson, who lived here between 1803-15 and is said to have made the sundial. Stephenson built his first locomotive (Blucher) at the adjacent colliery wagon shops and on July 25th 1814, according to the inscription, it was placed on the nearby wagonway. LISTED GRADE 2* A watching brief in 2002 during the conversion of the cottage into a school caretakers house revealed that below extensive redecoration, the core of the original building fabric survives.