Tyne and Wear HER(5142): Byker, St Lawrence Wire Rope Works - Details
5142
Newcastle
Byker, St Lawrence Wire Rope Works
Byker
NZ26SE
Industrial
Rope Manufacturing Site
Ropery
Post Medieval
C18-C20
Extant Building
A former rope works building interesting not only as a vestige of the rope industry on Tyneside but also for the use of ferro concrete in the early 20th century extension to the building. A 376 foot long building was added to the site for Messrs. T & W Smith Ltd, the roof of which comprises 33 ferro-concrete trusses. The St Lawrence Ropery was established in the 18th century. The earliest extant documentary reference to the rope-walk at St Lawrence dates from 1724. In 1782 the shipbuilding and ropemaking company and T & W Smith started work at the ropery. This ropery appears to have been extended over the sites of the middle and high glasshouses (HER 1913-1915) in the early 19th century. Further minor alterations took place before the construction of a ferro-concrete ropery shed before 1913. The site was acquired by J. Porter in the early 1930s and converted to a joinery shop, in which use it remains. The 19th century ropery buildings to the south east and north west of the site were demolished in the 1940s and 1990s respectively.
2664
6404
NZ26646404
<< HER 5142 >> I. Ayris & S.M. Linsley, 1994, A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Tyne and Wear, p 55
J.C. Mabbitt, 2002, Tyne and Wear Museums, St Lawrence Ropery, Byker, Archaeological Assessment and Building Recording
L.G. Mouchal & Partners Ltd, 1921, Hennebique Ferro-Concrete
1882, Plan of St Lawrence Works, Tyne and Wear Archive Service, T186-9854; Tyne and Wear Museums, 2004, St. Lawrence Ropery, Byker, Archaeological Evaluation and recording of an air raid shelter; Archaeological Services Durham University, 2008, St Lawrence Ropery, Newcastle upon Tyne - Archaeological Evaluation