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SCHEDULED
ENTRY COPY
MONUMENT: Colliery
engine house at Washington F Pit, Albany
PARISH:
SUNDERLAND
DISTRICT:
SUNDERLAND
COUNTY:
TYNE AND WEAR
NATIONAL MONUMENT NO:
30925
NATIONAL GRID REFERENCE(S): NZ30225743
NZ30235741
Description of the Monument
The monument is situated on the west-side of
Albany Way. Falling within two
areas of protection, it includes an early 20th century colliery
engine house and in-situ engine and steel lattice headgear.
The Washington F Pit was sunk in 1777 and raised
coal until an explosion led to its abandonment in 1796. The pit was re-opened in 1820, deepened in 1857 and
remodelled around 1903. The engine
house, which is Listed Grade II, was built in 1926 and housed a second-hand
engine built by the Grange Iron Company of Durham in 1888.
The colliery reached a peak of production during the mid 1960s but was
finally closed in 1968. The site
was cleared soon after and the engine house was presented to the people of
Washington as a monument. It was
opened as a museum in 1976.
The engine house itself is of red brick,
rectangular plan, with a hipped Welsh slate roof.
External walls are divided into four bays on the north and south sides
and three bays on the east and west sides.
The upper bays on the north and south sides each include a round-headed
sash window with glazing bars. The
east side has square-headed doorways in the upper north and south bays with
external steel stairs leading to the ground and headgear respectively.
The headgear, which is included in the scheduling, springs from a steel
cross beam above the doors. A
blocked square opening below the beam and a small dormer window in the hip of
the roof formerly allowed the twin headgear pulleys to be wound by wire rope
from a single drum located at the east end of the building.
The lower central bay on the east side has a blocked round-headed doorway
which originally gave access to the boiler.
Two small round-headed openings in the west side of the engine house, now
blocked, formerly housed exhaust pipes. Similar
blocked openings occur in the lower bays of the returns.
The west side also includes a square porch with three bays on its west
side with a central round-headed sash window, a single bay on its south side and
an entrance on its northern return.
Internally the engine house is a single tall storey,
with king-post double tie-beam roof, divided into two floors by a cast iron
balcony which allowed access to the drum and engine.
The in-situ engine is a steam-powered horizontal twin-cylinder engine
capable of 500 horse power, and is included in the scheduling.
The engine and drum are maintained in full working order though the
engine is now operated by electricity. The
boiler was located beneath the engine but has since been removed, making way for
an interpretation and display area.
A section of headframe, now ex situ and situated to the
south east, formerly operated as a guide for the ropes vertically over the
shaft. The frame is an important
component of the headgear and is included in the scheduling within a separate
area of protection.
A small electric underground haulage train situated
to the east is not included in the scheduling.
Two pulley wheels propped against the south wall, and all modern museum
fixtures and fittings are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground
beneath is included.
Location
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