New Greenwich Foundry

Shown on Hutton's plan of 1770. This foundry used iron waste brought in as ballast. It was established to the east of Hillgate in 1747 by William Hawks, foreman blacksmith to Sir Ambrose Crowley of Stourbridge, and was called "New Greenwich" after Crowley's old works on the Thames. The works produced spades, shovels, bar iron and steel. William Hawks' son William inherited the works in 1755 and he expanded the works until his death in 1801. In 1774 the works consisted of four rooms, a smith's shop and a mill powered by a water course which ran through the Park Estate. The foundry had a mill (NZ 2608 6386) and a mill pond (NZ 2614 6386). New Greenwich Iron Works is shown on Oliver's plan of 1830. Later expanded into the larger Gateshead Iron Works (HER 5177).