Albert Edward Dock, accumulator tower
Albert Edward Dock, accumulator tower
HER Number
7292
District
N Tyneside
Site Name
Albert Edward Dock, accumulator tower
Place
North Shields
Map Sheet
NZ36NE
Class
Industrial
Site Type: Broad
Power Generation Site
Site Type: Specific
Hydraulic Accumulation Tower
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Form of Evidence
Extant Building
Description
This structure was listed Grade II* in 1986 with the following description:
'Hydraulic accumulator tower. 1882 for Tyne Improvement Commissioners. Engineers Ure and Messent. Rock-faced sandstone with quoins, ashlar plinth coping and dressings; Welsh slate roof. 2 high storeys, one bay. Partly-glazed door under rock-faced elliptical arch; similar arches and projecting stone sills to windows, that above door with vertical glazing bars. Windows on east face blocked up. Swept pyramidal roof with railed lookout on top and bargeboarded gable above star-patterned panels, said to have contained clock faces. Interior: high quality sandstone ashlar; iron stair to machinery; hydraulic machinery. Historical note: the only surviving example on the Tyne of hydraulic machinery, first developed at Newcastle by William Armstrong in the 1840s. Unused at time of survey.'
The tower used hydraulic power to open the lock gates. LISTED GRADE 2*
'Hydraulic accumulator tower. 1882 for Tyne Improvement Commissioners. Engineers Ure and Messent. Rock-faced sandstone with quoins, ashlar plinth coping and dressings; Welsh slate roof. 2 high storeys, one bay. Partly-glazed door under rock-faced elliptical arch; similar arches and projecting stone sills to windows, that above door with vertical glazing bars. Windows on east face blocked up. Swept pyramidal roof with railed lookout on top and bargeboarded gable above star-patterned panels, said to have contained clock faces. Interior: high quality sandstone ashlar; iron stair to machinery; hydraulic machinery. Historical note: the only surviving example on the Tyne of hydraulic machinery, first developed at Newcastle by William Armstrong in the 1840s. Unused at time of survey.'
The tower used hydraulic power to open the lock gates. LISTED GRADE 2*
Easting
35302
Northing
66942
Grid Reference
NZ3530266942
Sources
Joint Conservation Team, Newcastle City Council, 1990, The Albert Edward Dock Area, North Shields;
I. Ayris & P. Jubb, 1995, Hydraulic Accumulator Tower, Albert Edward Dock, Howdon Road, North Shields, Preliminary Report;
Department of National Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 8/92;
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1354990
I. Ayris & P. Jubb, 1995, Hydraulic Accumulator Tower, Albert Edward Dock, Howdon Road, North Shields, Preliminary Report;
Department of National Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 8/92;
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1354990