Elswick, Lead Works Hydraulic Power Site

This building was referred to as the power house on a site plan of 1955, but it is not clear whether it housed a hydraulic engine or was a hydraulic pumping house. It appears likely to have been a source of hydraulic power for powering presses etc, in the pipe mill (HER ref. 4901) on the site. The structure was built between 1914 and 1940, relatively late for the use of hydraulic power, and consists of four stories, all presently unused. The lower floors have been unused since before 1955 and may contain the remains of hydraulic machinery.