Warden Law Engine House

Warden Law Engine House

HER Number
2977
District
Sunderland
Site Name
Warden Law Engine House
Place
Warden Law
Map Sheet
NZ35SE
Class
Transport
Site Type: Broad
Railway Transport Site
Site Type: Specific
Engine Shed
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Hanoverian 1714 to 1837
Form of Evidence
Extant Building
Description
Two important colliery railways passed over Warden Law - the Hetton Railway going north and the Londonderry Railway going east. The two crossed between Copt Hill and Warden Law. At the highest point on the Londonderry Railway stands the Warden Law Engine. The trackbed can be followed in the area and the engine house is virtually complete. The extant buildings comprise the original stone engine house with mid-19th century brick extensions, featuring some fine railway architecture which were built to form a locomotive shed. The original engine house probably dates from circa 1830 and so is perhaps the oldest colliery railway building in the county. The importance of the Londonderry Railway is well recorded and gives this survival added significance. Recorded ahead of conversion in 2017.
Easting
436610
Northing
549830
Grid Reference
NZ436610549830
Sources
<< HER 2977 >> 1st edition Ordnance Survey map, 6 inch scale, Durham14
C.E. Mountford, 1970, The Development of Colliery Railways in Co. Durham, p.16
Pers. Comm. I.M. Ayris, 1990; Vindomora Solutions, 2017, Engine House and Loco Shed, Houghton le Spring Building Recording