Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition map. Carried the road over the Beamish Burn. Urpeth Forge still survives next to the bridge on the Durham side, and is converted into a house. The bridge is stone built. The listing description reads:
'Bridge. Late C18. Coursed squared sandstone arch recessed under chamfered surround; band at road bed level. Chamfered coping to parapets terminating in short returns on pilasters.' LISTED GRADE 2
Site Type: Broad
Road Transport Site
SITEDESC
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition map. Carried the road over the Beamish Burn. Urpeth Forge still survives next to the bridge on the Durham side, and is converted into a house. The bridge is stone built. The listing description reads:
'Bridge. Late C18. Coursed squared sandstone arch recessed under chamfered surround; band at road bed level. Chamfered coping to parapets terminating in short returns on pilasters.'
Site Name
Beamish Burn, Upper Forge Bridge
Site Type: Specific
Road Bridge
SITE_STAT
Listed Building Grade II
HER Number
6967
Form of Evidence
Structure
Sources
Ordnance Survey first edition map 1850; Department of National Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, 13/73; https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1025155
SURVIVAL
100%
YEAR1
2005
YEAR2
2006
English, British
Class
Transport
COMP1
Jennifer Morrison
Crossref
1027
DAY1
31
District
Gateshead
Easting
423350
Grid ref figure
8
Map Sheet
NZ25SW
MONTH1
3
Grid Reference
NZ
Northing
554080
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Place
Beamish Burn
Description
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition.
Site Type: Broad
Road Transport Site
SITEDESC
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition.
Site Name
Beamish Burn, ford
Site Type: Specific
Ford
HER Number
6966
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Sources
Ordnance Survey first edition map 1850
YEAR1
2005
English, British
Class
Transport
COMP1
Jennifer Morrison
COMP2
Clare Henderson
Crossref
1027
DAY1
31
DAY2
18
District
Gateshead
Easting
423096
Grid ref figure
10
Map Sheet
NZ25SW
MONTH1
3
MONTH2
11
Grid Reference
NZ
Northing
553912
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Place
Beamish Burn
Description
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition. Would have given access to the workers living in cottages (HER 6968) to the Paper Mill on the Durham side of the river.
Site Type: Broad
Pedestrian Transport Site
SITEDESC
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition. Would have given access to the workers living in cottages (HER 6968) to the Paper Mill on the Durham side of the river.
Site Name
Beamish Burn, wooden bridge
Site Type: Specific
Footbridge
HER Number
6965
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Sources
Ordnance Survey first edition map 1850
YEAR1
2005
YEAR2
2020
English, British
Class
Industrial
COMP1
Jennifer Morrison
Crossref
1027
DAY1
31
District
Gateshead
Easting
422670
Grid ref figure
8
Map Sheet
NZ25SW
MONTH1
3
Grid Reference
NZ
Northing
553960
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Place
Beamish Burn
Description
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition.
Site Type: Broad
Coal Mining Site
SITEDESC
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition.
Site Name
Beamish Burn, drift
Site Type: Specific
Coal Workings
HER Number
6964
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Sources
Ordnance Survey first edition map 1850
YEAR1
2005
English, British
Class
Industrial
COMP1
Jennifer Morrison
COMP2
Clare Henderson
Crossref
1027
DAY1
31
DAY2
18
District
Gateshead
Easting
422763
Grid ref figure
10
Map Sheet
NZ25SW
MONTH1
3
MONTH2
11
Grid Reference
NZ
Northing
554187
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Place
Beamish Burn
Description
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition.
Site Type: Broad
Power Generation Site
SITEDESC
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition.
Site Name
Beamish Burn, dam
Site Type: Specific
Dam
HER Number
6963
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Sources
Ordnance Survey first edition map 1850
YEAR1
2005
YEAR2
2020
English, British
Class
Transport
COMP1
Jennifer Morrison
Crossref
1027
DAY1
31
District
Gateshead
Easting
422570
Grid ref figure
8
Map Sheet
NZ25SW
MONTH1
3
Grid Reference
NZ
Northing
554060
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Place
Beamish Burn
Description
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition. Would have given access to Middle Forge on Durham's side of the river.
Site Type: Broad
Pedestrian Transport Site
SITEDESC
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition. Would have given access to Middle Forge on the Durham side of the river.
Site Name
Beamish Burn, footbridge
Site Type: Specific
Footbridge
HER Number
6962
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Sources
Ordnance Survey first edition map 1850
YEAR1
2005
English, British
Class
Industrial
COMP1
Jennifer Morrison
COMP2
Clare Henderson
Crossref
1027,6960
DAY1
31
DAY2
19
District
Gateshead
Easting
422516
Grid ref figure
10
Map Sheet
NZ25SW
MONTH1
3
MONTH2
11
Grid Reference
NZ
Northing
553908
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Place
Beamish Burn
Description
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition.
Site Type: Broad
Power Generation Site
SITEDESC
Shown on Ordnance Survey first edition.
Site Name
Beamish Burn, boilers
Site Type: Specific
Boiler House
HER Number
6961
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Sources
Ordnance Survey first edition map 1850
YEAR1
2005
YEAR2
2020
English, British
Class
Industrial
COMP1
Jennifer Morrison
Crossref
1027,6961
DAY1
31
District
Gateshead
Easting
422530
Grid ref figure
8
Map Sheet
NZ25SW
MATERIAL
Brick
MONTH1
3
Grid Reference
NZ
Northing
553910
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Place
Beamish Burn
Description
Ruined remains of a brick and stone engine house as seen on Ordnance Survey first edition. The associated remains of a further engine house on the Durham side of the river are also very substantial. There is tumbled stonework in the river.
Site Type: Broad
Power Generation Site
SITEDESC
Ruined remains of a brick and stone engine house as seen on Ordnance Survey first edition. The associated remains of a further engine house on the Durham side of the river are also very substantial. There is tumbled stonework in the river.
Site Name
Beamish Burn, engine house and windlass
Site Type: Specific
Engine House
HER Number
6960
Form of Evidence
Ruined Building
Sources
Ordnance Survey first edition map 1850
SURVIVAL
20-39%
YEAR1
2005
English, British
Class
Transport
COMP1
Jennifer Morrison
COMP2
Jennifer Morrison
Crossref
4059, 4289, 1134
DAY1
31
DAY2
04
District
Newcastle
Easting
421850
EASTING2
1916
Grid ref figure
8
Map Sheet
NZ16SE
MAP2
NZ26NW
MONTH1
3
MONTH2
12
Grid Reference
NZ
NGR2
NZ
Northing
567430
NORTHING2
6436
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Hanoverian 1714 to 1837
Place
Scotswood
Description
Kitty's Drift was an underground railway, built in 1770 to transport coal underground from East Kenton Colliery to the staithes at Scotswood. It was a single track wooden waggonway with passing places for horsedrawn waggons. The route was abandoned in 1805 and replaced by a surface waggonway, but the drift continued in use as a main drainage level for many years. The entrance was close to Montague Colliery, View Pit (HER 4059). The Mickley Coal Company therefore utilised part of Kitty's Drift in the 1930s to take coal from Caroline Pit (HER 4289) to the screens at the closed View Pit. Originally Kitty's Drift used a massive steam winder to haul the tubs the 2.5 miles to the View Pit screens, but in 1933 this was replaced by a 250 horsepower electric winder. The Mickley Coal Company intercepted Kitty's Drift with Bates Drift, at a gradient of 1 in 3 from the Beaumont seam. And the Fan Pit Level Drift, which was 980 yards long, carried tubs from the shaft up to Kitty's Drift and on to View Pit. This created a complex and extensive underground endless rope haulage system in places up to 6 miles in length. The Montague Colliery (and therefore Kitty's Drift) closed again in 1959. The exact route of the underground railway is not known - it is shown as a "Subterranean Tunnel on Lambert's map of 1807). Said to have been the westernmost end of the Coxlodge Wagonway (HER 1134). Possibly the earliest underground railway in the world.
SITEASS
Between the early 1770s and 1796, a three miles long subterraneous waggonway and drainage level, known as Kitty’s Drift (designed by Christopher Bedlington and named after him), was driven from Bell’s Close in Scotswood northwards to East Kenton. The drift was designed to exploit untouched but deep coal, primarily the valuable High Main Seam, on the downcast side of the 90 Fathom Dyke. Unfortunately, strata to the north of the dyke were found to be displaced downwards by about 500 feet – more than was expected – and the drift ran above the High Main coal. Two pits were sunk to the seam, and coal and water lifted by steam engines to the level for removal. Kitty’s Drift functioned as a waggonway for about 12 years (until 1808) after which it continued to serve as a drainage level.
Site Type: Broad
Railway Transport Site
SITEDESC
Kitty's Drift was an underground railway, built in 1770 to transport coal underground from East Kenton Colliery to the staithes at Scotswood. It was a single track wooden waggonway with passing places for horse drawn waggons. The tunnel was said to be 3 miles long, 6 feet high and 6 feet wide. The route was abandoned in 1805 and replaced by a surface waggonway, but the drift continued in use as a main drainage level for many years. The entrance was close to Montague Colliery, View Pit (HER 4059). The Mickley Coal Company therefore utilised part of Kitty's Drift in the 1930s to take coal from Caroline Pit (HER 4289) to the screens at the closed View Pit. Originally Kitty's Drift used a massive steam winder to haul the tubs the 2.5 miles to the View Pit screens, but in 1933 this was replaced by a 250 horsepower electric winder. The Mickley Coal Company intercepted Kitty's Drift with Bates Drift, at a gradient of 1 in 3 from the Beaumont seam. And the Fan Pit Level Drift, which was 980 yards long, carried tubs from the shaft up to Kitty's Drift and on to View Pit. This created a complex and extensive underground endless rope haulage system in places up to 6 miles in length. The Montague Colliery (and therefore Kitty's Drift) closed again in 1959. The exact route of the underground railway is not known - it is shown as a "Subterranean Tunnel on Lambert's map of 1807). Said to have been the westernmost end of the Coxlodge Wagonway (HER 1134). Possibly the earliest underground railway in the world.
Site Name
Kitty's Drift
Site Type: Specific
Underground Railway Tunnel
HER Number
6959
Form of Evidence
Documentary Evidence
Sources
James T. Tuck, 1997, The Collieries of Northumberland, Vol 1; Lambert, 1807, Plan of the Rivers Tyne and Wear… also a plan of Newcastle upon Tyne; M Lambert, 1807, Plan of the rivers Tyne and Wear with the collieries, wagonways and staiths, thereon, and the principal roads and villages, Newcastle Libraries C2 672664 00 53; R. Welford, 1879, A History of the Parish of Gosforth, p. 84-87; Alan Williams, 2012, Waggonways North of the River Tyne: Tyne and Wear HER Enhancement Project; Turnbull, L. 2009 Coals from Newcastle: An Introduction to the Northumberland and Durham Coalfield, p 132
YEAR1
2005
YEAR2
2012
English, British
Class
Industrial
COMP1
Jennifer Morrison
COMP2
Rachel Grahame
Crossref
1064
DAY1
31
DAY2
03
District
Newcastle
Easting
422713
EASTING2
0
Grid ref figure
10
Map Sheet
NZ26SW
MONTH1
3
MONTH2
5
Grid Reference
NZ
Northing
575898
NORTHING2
0
General Period
POST MEDIEVAL
Specific Period
Victorian 1837 to 1901
Place
Seaton Burn
Description
Opened 1888. Shown as an air shaft on Ordnance Survey second edition.
Site Type: Broad
Coal Mining Site
SITEDESC
Opened 1888. Shown as an air shaft on Ordnance Survey second edition.