Numbers 3 & 4 Old Engine Houses, Shildon, County Durham

Summary

Built by the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) as accommodation for the engine man and fireman/blacksmith operating the engine for the Brusselton inclines, probably in the mid-1820s.

Description

Semi-detached pair of railway workers’ houses, mid-1820s, for the Stockton & Darlington Railway.

MATERIALS: tooled and squared local sandstone laid to courses; Welsh slate roof; rebuilt chimney stack (using brick) to the east gable, stone stack to the west gable.

PLAN: reconfigured, originally a single room deep with single storey rear outshuts, these raised to two storeys in the late C20.

EXTERIOR: Front (north) is of four bays, the western bay being wider and the second bay from the east being shared between the two properties, the two front doors being to this bay, the first-floor window being split into two by a central mullion. The frontage has slightly projecting, well-dressed rusticated quoining to the corners of the building and all of the door and window openings, the lintels being monolithic, the sills slightly projecting. The gables are coped and have ridge stacks. Windows are horned two-over-two pane sashes, the single mullioned window being similar in overall appearance with a pair of narrower horned sashes. Attached to the west end of the elevation at first floor level there is a black and white S&DR ceramic plaque marked H1 in white on a black shield.
Rear (south): the original single storey outshuts have been raised to two storeys beneath a flat roof with a low parapet. Extending south from each end there is a single-storey, single-bayed, gabled extension with slate roofs. These extensions are stone-built to match in with the original building.

NOTE: the surrounding area forms a scheduled monument.

History

The hamlet of Brusselton was the creation of the Stockton & Darlington Railway (S&DR) which opened in 1825. None of the houses are shown on George Stephenson’s (1781-1848) 1822 survey for the line, although this does mark buildings further to the west at Low West Thickley. The pair of cottages, 3-4 Old Engine Houses were built, probably around 1825, for the S&DR as railway workers’ housing for the engine man and fireman/blacksmith operating the steam engine that was originally sited within 2 Old Engine Houses, this steam engine being used to haul trains up the Brusselton inclines between the valley of the River Gaunless and New Shildon.

The first engineman at Brusselton was William Mowtrey who moved on to be a locomotive driver in 1828, being replaced by Robert Young who kept the position until he died in 1848, being replaced by his brother Ralph. Brusselton was closed as a through-route in 1858, although the line was retained as a siding extending from Shildon railway works to Low West Thickley. Brussleton remained as a settlement for railway workers. In the 1850s, domestic properties owned by the S&DR were marked with the installation of ceramic plaques bearing reference numbers. The plaque fixed to the front elevation reading H1 is one such example. In the late C19 further railway workers’ housing was built mainly as a number of terraces, but including a property added to the east gable of 3 Old Engine Houses. This was removed by 1914, although the original building was by then subdivided into three, only being reconfigured back into a pair sometime between 1939 and 1962. Between 1967 and 1982, most of the late C19 terraces were demolished, 2 & 3 Old Engine Houses expanded around the same time with rear extensions

The Brusselton inclines (the wider archaeological and structural remains forming a scheduled monument) are known to have been influential for the development of other early railways, being visited by a succession of engineers and railway promotors in the 1820s-1830s. As a group, 1-4 Old Engine Houses represents the best surviving collection of S&DR buildings dating to the 1820s, the period for which the railway was most influential both nationally and internationally 3 & 4 Old Engine Houses also represents what is potentially the earliest surviving purpose-built railway workers’ housing in the world.

Reasons for Listing

Number 3 & 4 Old Engine Houses are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:
* potentially the earliest surviving purpose-built railway workers’ housing in the country, and possibly the world;

* built by the Stockton & Darlington Railway for the engineman and the fireman/blacksmith operating the haulage engine for the Brusselton Inclines; the inclines forming the focus of much attention by visiting engineers and railway promoters, a major contributor to the company’s influence in the development of early railways both in England and abroad.

Architectural interest:

* a good example of local vernacular construction with rusticated quoins that display a degree of architectural embellishment.

Group value:
* together with numbers 1 and 2 Old Engine Houses, the three buildings are the best surviving group of Stockton & Darlington Railway buildings on the entire line dating to the 1820s, the period in which the railway was most influential.

External Links

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