Birtley, Blackfell Engine

HER Number:
3915

District:
Gateshead

Site Name:
Birtley, Blackfell Engine

Place:
Birtley

Map Sheet:
NZ25NE

Class:
Industrial

Site Type: Broad:
Machinery

Site Type: Specific:
Engine

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
Blackfell Engine with it's associated reservoirs on the Pelaw Main Wagonway. The first ever fixed engine used for hauling wagons was erected on Birtley Fell in 1808 by Samuel Cooke, one of the owners of the Bewicke Main or Urpeth Colliery, when forming a wagonway to the River Tyne. It began working on the 17th May, 1809, drawing four chauldron wagons up the plane.

Easting:
2796

Northing:
5597

Grid Reference:
NZ27965597

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 3915 >> 1st edition Ordnance Survey Map, c.1855, 6 inch scale, Durham, 13; W.W. Tomlinson, 1914, The North Eastern Railway - Its Rise and Development, p 18