Monkwearmouth, Iron Works

Monkwearmouth Works (Iron) is shown on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map of 1857. On the map, the works are shown subdivided into a Rolling Mill, boilers, workshop, office and storehouse, and the main building has five chimneys. In the northern courtyard there is a weighing machine. A public house called the Rolling Mill Tavern is shown next to the complex. By 1898, the Iron Works had gone and the whole complex is marked as saw mills. Archaeologicla work carried out in November 2002 during redevelopment of the site revealed a stone and brick retaining wall and an industrial chimney constructed of large rectangular dressed blocks, measuring 2 metres in width and 6 metres high. The chimney rests on a stepped plinth of sandstone blocks and has an arched opening, 1.16 metres wide and 1.5 metres high. The chimney was lined with blackened firebricks and presumably served the building containing the boilers. Malting Cottages, with their decorative brickwork, are the converted office and workshop buildings of the iron works