Winlaton Way II

HER Number:
5959

District:
Gateshead

Site Name:
Winlaton Way II

Place:
Winlaton

Map Sheet:
NZ16SE

Class:
Transport

Site Type: Broad:
Tramway

Site Type: Specific:
Wagonway

General Period:
Post Medieval

Specific Period:
C18

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
In about 1693, the Winlaton (Brockwell) Way was subject to the first recorded case of physical assault on a waggonway - a trench, or ditch, was dug across it. In 1713, the Brockwell Way was radically reorganised and it was taken upstream to new staiths at Stella. This necessitated the building of a bridge over the Blaydon Burn, whose northern abutments still remain. Unfortunately, the track on the south bank is hard to follow but the course of the new waggonway up the valley to the Brockwell area, and ultimately Barlow Fell, is still clear on the ground. The way ran to two staiths at Blaydon – ‘panncoale’ and ‘shipcoale’ staiths (‘pancoal’ a low quality product used by Shields salt pans, and ‘shipcoal’ the quality product destined for the London market). The use of Blaydon Staiths necessitated the retention of the original approach by the old Winlaton Way through the Horsecrofts.

Easting:
1783

Northing:
6369

Grid Reference:
NZ17836369

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 5959 >> G. Bennett, E. Clavering & A. Rounding, 1990, A Fighting Trade - Rail Transport in Tyne Coal 1600-1800 A. Williams, 2004, A Fighting Trade - Review and mapping of routes; unpublished document for Tyne & Wear Heritage Environment Record; Alan Williams Archaeology, 2013, Waggonways to the South Bank of the River Tyne and to the River Wear; Turnbull, L, 2012, Railways Before George Stephenson (entry 65) 155, 171