Springwell
Wagon Shop

© Bowes Railway archive
Springwell wagon shop

This is the largest building on site. It was built in the mid-nineteenth century as a coal store. Note the heavily butressed walls which are masively thick. The building held the coal during the times when it could not be shipped from the staithes on the River Tyne at Jarrow. This type of structure may well have been a  common feature of North East pits. For example, a similar building was located at Burnopfield colliery.

© Peter Norman
Springwell wagon shop with "Butlins" to the right

With the closure of Springwell colliery in the 1930s this building with its cathedral like proportions was converted into a two-road wagon repair shop for the Railway. To improve visibility within the building extra windows were added between the buttresses of the side walls. It is said that the hole for each window created a full wagonload of stone for disposal.

This coal store was almost certainly roofed, although how has never been certain. The present type of covering (asbestos cement sheeting) was installed in the 1930s when the building was converted to a railway workshop. Originally, it was believed that the original roof was slated. However, the discovery in September 2006 of red clay pantiles while digging was carried out around the building strongly suggests an original pantile roof. Pantiles are not uncommon on stone buildings in the area. Many old farmhouses and barns had such roofs.

The wagon shop staff of 25 could repair five wagons every 14 days and the shop could hold up to 12 wagons at a time. The building was equipped with wood working machinery and forges - gantry cranes covered the length of the two roads.

© Dave Hardy
Springwell wagon shop interior

Evidence still remains of the building's former use as a coal bunker. Slots in the wooden roof trusses can be seen where the tub rails once ran. The exact method of operation of the bunker is subject to debate. However, tubs of coal entered the building through a large opening in the south gable end of the building and were then tippled into the bunkers below at a travelling kick plate that could be positioned along the rails. To empty the bunker, railway wagons were hauled or pushed into the north end of the building and filled by hand. This method of working goes against normal colliery practice, as whenever possible gravity was used to fill wagons with coal. The other disadvantage to this method of working is that the coal would bypass the screening process.

Today the building is still used for wagon repair work, but on a smaller scale, and it also used to house some of the railway rolling stock.

This page last updated 12 September 2006