Amethyst Road, retaining wall

This retaining wall is the only remnant of Amstrong’s Elswick Works, once Newcastle’s largest employer and most significant works. The stone wall, with its chutes and arches were used for transferring material from the upper to the lower level of the armaments factory. The Elswick Works had been founded to build hydraulic machinery to power cranes and bridges. By 1854 the Works secured its first defence contract for the creation of submarine mines. However by the 1970s the site had become semi-derelict. In 1985 the Tyne and Wear Development Corporation regenerated the area into a business park, and were responsible for retaining the coloured brick face. LOCAL LIST