Springwell
Joiners Shop

© Dave Hardy
Joiners shop at Springwell

Part of the once common style of colliery courtyard complexes, the group of stone buildings are believed to date from the opening of the railway in 1826. It is believed that the two storey joiners shop started life as a single storey building.  Large materials cut within this building were taken into the courtyard for assembly. The upper floor was used as a store for fodder for both the pit ponies and horses that at one time shunted the colliery.

© Dave Hardy
Joiners shop: interior view of upstairs exhibition area

The lower floor contains a variety of woodworking machinery, which is still used. The upper floor today serves as the railway exhibition room and archive. However since preservation it was used as a stores when the railway had a job creation scheme run by the Manpower Services Commission (MSC). The upper floor was also for a time the home of the Washington Model Railway Club.

This page last updated 30 November 2002