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ABSTRACT
Developer-funded archaeological investigations were undertaken by Archaeological Research Services Ltd within Hendon Sidings Enterprise Zone at the Port of Sunderland in March 2021 and during the summer and autumn of 2022, prior to the commencement of engineering works including alterations to existing access routes and reprofiling of the area. The works were undertaken on behalf of Esh Construction. Evaluation trenching in 2021 identified the remains of the well-preserved roundhouse and a portion of the associated turntable, which was then fully exposed during subsequent open-area excavation. The work revealed the iron fittings associated with the mechanical structures of the turntable pit, in addition to inspection pits for engines and steam railcars, culverts, three well-preserved ‘straight’ engine sheds and associated structures. Unlike the roundhouse, thought to have been demolished in the 1960s, the engine sheds underwent reconstruction and refurbishment to accommodate the larger diesel engines in the mid- to late 20th century. Many of the structures associated with the western engine sheds similarly date to around this time, although some of the sandstone foundations and boundary walls appeared to be of a later date and had not been subjected to the same level of dieselisation as other areas of the sheds.
Acknowledgements
Archaeological Research Services Ltd would like to thank Esh Group, for commissioning the archaeological fieldwork and this subsequent publication article, and Rachel Grahame, Archaeology Officer for Tyne and Wear, for her advice. ARS Ltd would also like to thank the members of the North Eastern Railway Association for their extremely helpful comments and personal experiences which have helped extensively with establishing the accuracy of the site’s history and development.
Disclosure Statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1 Robert Surtees, The History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham (Sunderland: Hills, 1908), 6.
2 Tom Corfe, Sunderland – a Short History (Albion Press, 2013).
3 Glen Lyndon Dodds, A History of Sunderland, 3rd ed. (Albion Press, 2011).
4 Robert Surtees, The history and antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham (Sunderland: Hills, 1908), 7.
5 Corfe, Sunderland – a Short History.
6 Ibid.
7 John Scott, ‘Land East of Prospect Row, Hendon, Sunderland. Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment’, TWM Archaeology Project Number 1161 (2010): 9.
8 Neil Sinclair, Sunderland Railways (Catrine: Stenlake Publishing, 2019), 17–19.
9 Corfe, Sunderland – a Short History.
10 Stuart T. Miller, ‘John Murray: “a bold and skilful engineer”’, Industrial Archaeology Review 6, no. 2 (1982): 102–11, doi: 10.1179/iar.1982.6.2.102.
11 Dodds, A History of Sunderland.
12 Ibid.
13 Corfe, Sunderland – a Short History.
14 Michael Nicholson, ‘Evaluation at Hendon Sidings, Adjacent to Prospect Row, Sunderland, Port of Sunderland’ (unpublished, Archaeological Research Services Ltd, 2021).
15 Llewellyn Jewitt, The Ceramic Art of Great Britain (London: J.S. Virtue & Co. Ltd., 1883).
16 Nicholson, ‘Evaluation at Hendon Sidings’.
17 Information courtesy of members of the North Eastern Railway Association.
18 John Addyman, ed., North Eastern Railway Engine Sheds (Darlington: North Eastern Railway Association, 2020), 175.
19 Phillip A. Emery and Rebecca Haslam, ‘Archaeological Investigations of York South Motive Power Depot’, Industrial Archaeology Review 40, no. 2 (2018): 88–102, doi: 10.1080/03090728.2018.1505336.
20 Sinclair, Sunderland Railways, 101.
21 Information courtesy of members of the North Eastern Railway Association.
22 OS 1:1250 Ordnance Survey, 1954; OS 1:1250 Ordnance Survey, 1967.
23 Brbdatabase, Complete British Locomotive Database 1923–1997, https://www.brdatabase.info/sites.php?page=depots&subpage=main&id=531 (accessed October 24, 2022).
24 Rebecca Haslam, ‘Stephenson’s Roundhouse in Context: Excavations at the Stratford Locomotive and Carriage Works, London Borough of Newham’, Industrial Archaeology Review 41, no. 1 (2019): 31–44, doi: 10.1080/03090728.2019.1589705.
25 OS 1:22500 Ordnance Survey, 1897.
26 Haslam, ‘Stephenson’s Roundhouse in Context’.
27 Brbdatabase, Complete British Locomotive Database 1923–1997.
28 Geograph https://www.geograph.org.uk/stuff/list.php?label=Locomotive&gridref=NZ4057 (accessed October, 24 2022).
29 OS 1:1250 Ordnance Survey, 1967; Rail photoprints, https://railphotoprints.uk/p683721011/hAF7AFE85#haf7afe85 (accessed October, 24 2022).
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Philippa Hunter
Philippa Hunter is currently Projects Manager for Archaeological Research Services Ltd, since starting with the company as an Archaeological Officer in 2008. Philippa has worked on and managed a wide range of sites, mostly across the North East of England, including in both rural and urban settings, for commercial and research purposes.
Simon Cosedge
Simon Cosedge worked as Senior Assistant Project Officer at ARS Ltd until October 2022.
Michael Nicholson
Michael Nicholson worked as Project Officer at ARS Ltd until May 2022.
Rachael Lightfoot
Rachael Lightfoot is Assistant Project Officer at ARS Ltd.
Robin Holgate
Robin Holgate is Head of Publications at ARS Ltd.
Joseph Empsall
Joseph Empsall is Historic Buildings Officer at ARS Ltd.