Henrik's House

'Henrik's House and Close' is shown as a complex of four builings including one large structure with a church-like tower set in an enclosure on a plan of 1620. The name Henrik suggests a German or Dutch origin for the inhabitant (note the use of the name Holland on the Ordnance Survey first edition). The individual may have been attracted to the area by industrial opportunities created by the staiths (HER 4036). Graves (forthcoming) notes that in the C17 invited workers from the Low Countries connected with water management (or perhaps pumps for coal working?) brought new technology to the north-east coalfield from Germany. The size of the enclosure and structures therein suggest that this person was in lucrative employment.