Kenton Waggonway

HER Number:
15347

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Kenton Waggonway

Place:
Kenton

Map Sheet:
NZ26NW NZ16SE

Class:
Transport

Site Type: Broad:
Tramway

Site Type: Specific:
Wagonway

General Period:
Post Medieval

Specific Period:
C18

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
Circa 1700-1715. Kenton Estate is bisected by the 90 Fathom Dyke. Extraction of coal from the part of the estate to the south, upcast, side of the dyke, where the coal seams were shallower had begun by the 16th century. By the early 18th century a waggonway carried coal from West Kenton and Montague Main pits down to the River Tyne at Scotswood. This waggonway was closed by 1715 when the coal workings were flooded. Kitty’s drift (HER 6959), a subterraneous waggonway, ran between East Kenton and Bell’s Close on the River Tyne at Scotswood, exploiting untouched seams to the north of the dyke.

Easting:
2190

Northing:
6739

Grid Reference:
NZ21906739

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Alan Williams Archaeology, July 2012, Waggonways North of the River Tyne - Tyne and Wear HER Enhancement Project; Turnbull, L. 2009 Coals from Newcastle: An Introduction to the Northumberland and Durham Coalfield, p 132