Lambton Wagonway

HER Number:
2833

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Lambton Wagonway

Place:

Map Sheet:
NZ35NE NZ35SW

Class:
Transport

Site Type: Broad:
Tramway

Site Type: Specific:
Wagonway

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
Its northern terminus of The Lambton Wagonway was at the Lambton Drops (HER ref. 2832), on the Wear. Its southern end lay outside the county. This line was built in 1815 by the Nesham family to replace an earlier one from Philadelphia to the Penshaw Staiths. One of the stationery engines on the route was torched by Keelmen in 1815. The line was sold to John Lambton in 1822. The section between West Herrington and the Grindon Engine was realigned c.1831. The line was finally abandoned c.1870. Workmen building a new carpark at Sunderland Royal Hospital in September 2002 found that the line of the wagonway survived as a band of crushed coal waste. They also found a stone lined well (HER ref. 5138) presumably associated with the glebe engine (HER ref. 2851) on the wagonway. In 2018 a section of the Lambton Wagonway was excavated revealling impressions of timber sleepers and a stone sleeper.

Easting:
3925

Northing:
5743

Grid Reference:
NZ39255743

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 2833 >> 1st edition Ordnance Survey Map, c.1855, 6 inch scale, Durham, 8 N.T. Sinclair in Milburn & Miller, (eds) 1988, Sunderland, River, Town & People, Sunderland's Railways, p.26,27 C.E. Mountford, 1970, The Development of Colliery Railways in Co. Durham, p 5; W.W. Tomlinson, 1914, The North Eastern Railway - Its Rise and Development, pp 26-27; McKelvey, J. 2018. Lambton Waggonway, Philadelphia, Sunderland, Archaeological excavation, AD Archaeology, Event 4836; Pre-construct Archaeology, 2019, Sunderland Strategic Transport Corridor, Archeological evaluation phase 2