Walker, Iron Works
Walker, Iron Works
HER Number
4199
District
Newcastle
Site Name
Walker, Iron Works
Place
Walker
Map Sheet
NZ26SE
Class
Industrial
Site Type: Broad
Metal Industry Site
Site Type: Specific
Iron Works
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Description
In 1810, William Losh (of Alkali Works, HER ref. 4197) along with Thomas Wilson and Thomas Bell, opened an iron foundry and engineering works opposite the alkali works. The Walker Iron Works was the largest in the North of England and included the manufacture of rails for the first railways, steam engines for mills, collieries and ironworks, and iron boilers and ship plates. Towards the end of the 1800s rising costs of importing raw materials eventually led to the transfer of the Walker iron industry to Middlesborough and the iron works closed in 1891.
Easting
429720
Northing
563650
Grid Reference
NZ429720563650
Sources
<< HER 4199 >> 1st edition Ordnance Survey map, 1864, 6 inch scale, Northumberland, 98
L. Michael, 1992, Bygone Walker; The Industrial Resources of the District of the Three Northern Rivers, The Tyne, Wear and Tees including the reports on the local manufacturers read before The British Association in 1863 (edited by Sir W.G. Armstrong, I. Lowthian Bell, John Taylor and Dr Richardson, 1864); Tyne and Wear Museums Archaeology, 2012, Nelson Road, Walker - Archaeological Assessment
L. Michael, 1992, Bygone Walker; The Industrial Resources of the District of the Three Northern Rivers, The Tyne, Wear and Tees including the reports on the local manufacturers read before The British Association in 1863 (edited by Sir W.G. Armstrong, I. Lowthian Bell, John Taylor and Dr Richardson, 1864); Tyne and Wear Museums Archaeology, 2012, Nelson Road, Walker - Archaeological Assessment