Morton Engine

Morton Engine

HER Number
3140
District
Sunderland
Site Name
Morton Engine
Place
Houghton-le-Spring
Map Sheet
NZ35SW
Class
Industrial
Site Type: Broad
Machinery
Site Type: Specific
Engine
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Hanoverian 1714 to 1837
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Description
Historic Ordnance Survey map evidence shows the Morton Engine, possibly a winding or pumping engine associated with the nearby Coal Pit (HER ref. 3121) and wagonway (HER ref. 3614). The Morton Engine, built to pump water from the Bournmoor D Pit (HER ref. 4998), was planned from 1814 and commenced pumping operations in early 1817. The site is recorded as "Morton Engine" in 1856 and as the "Morton Pumping Station" in 1896, but by 1920 was disused. A terrace of four houses was located to the south of the engine, but the buildings had been demolished by 1939. The site of the engine is now marked by a low grassed-over mound.
Easting
432130
Northing
550690
Grid Reference
NZ432130550690
Sources
<< HER 3140 >> 1st edition Ordnance Survey Map, c.1855, 6 inch scale, Durham, 13
Northern Archaeological Associates, 2001, Sunderland Central Route, Multi Modal Study