An archaeological excavation was undertaken by Pre-Construct Archaeology in advance of development of a site at Sands Road, Swalwell as new retail outlet for Lidl. The excavation took place in a large trench measuring covering c. 780 square metres. (Image1)

View from the south across the excavation area, showing building recording in progress

Prior to the excavation, a desk-based assessment and an archaeological evaluation had established the archaeological potential of the site, particularly in terms of industrial archaeology and local history. The site was formerly occupied by Sir Ambrose Crowley's Iron Works, which were founded in the early 18th century and became one of the largest and most important ironworks in Europe.

Ambrose Crowley was born at Stourbridge, Worcester in 1658. His father was a successful ironmonger and a pioneer in the Black Country steelmaking industry. In 1681, after finishing his apprenticeship as an ironmonger, Crowley set up in business on his own account for the manufacturing of frying-pans, nails and other miscellaneous items of ironware in London. After quarrelling with the midland merchants who supplied his raw materials, Crowley transferred his large-scale manufactory to Sunderland in 1683. In 1690 he moved his operations to Winlaton and by 1707 (the year in which he was knighted) had bought out the operations of a rival partnership at Swalwell. He later became a director of the South Sea Company and, in 1713, he was elected MP for Andover. Before he could take his seat he died suddenly in October 1713, and was buried in Mitcham, Surrey.

The ironworks at Swalwell later operated as an engineering company until its closure in the late 19th century and the extensive Northumberland Paper Mills then occupied the site; the tall brick chimney from the paper mills remains at the site. (Image 2).

Victorian brick chimney of former Northumberland Paper Mills.

The excavation area contained the majority of a building shown on the 1718 map of Crowley's Ironworks as a 'wharf building' to the east of the 'Grand Warehouse', and shown on a plan dated 1870 as an 'iron warehouse'. Ordnance Survey mapping demonstrates that this building was still extant as recently as the 1960s. Built with handmade red bricks, the external dimensions of the building were 25.60m NW-SE by 6.30m wide. Modern deposits within it were excavated to a depth of c. 2m to expose a replacement concrete floor. Trenches excavated through the floor revealed a cobbled surface and several layers of cemented iron slag deposits, which are likely to represent successive floor levels associated with late 18th century and early 19th century use of the structure. The sandstone foundations of the wharf building were also exposed at the southern end of the structure.

To the north and east of the wharf building, the southern edge of a former water channel, shown on the 1718 map as a 'corn mill race', was located and a section of retaining wall 13.50m in length was exposed. The retaining wall had been subject to considerable rebuilding and repair and a wide range of material had been utilised for this, including several substantial grinding stones, presumably derived from the ironworks. Cartographic evidence shows that the retaining wall and this part of the watercourse were still extant in the 1960s.

To the west of the wharf building was an inlet from the watercourse, the eastern side of which was located within the excavation area. This feature is labelled 'Pool A' on the 1718 map, where it is annotated with 'The pool for Boats or Keels to come into' and is labelled as 'Water Course' on the 1870 plan. Three wide openings were recorded along the west wall of the wharf building and these would have functioned as loading bays into the building from keels using the watercourse. The loading bays had been infilled with bricks; cartographic evidence suggests that the inlet was infilled some time between 1897 and 1919, and disuse of the loading bays presumably dates to the same period.

To the east of the wharf building, was a brick and sandstone structure, which measured 16.40m NW-SE by 7.50m NE-SW. The south-eastern wall of this structure was of similar construction to the wharf building and is likely to have originated from Crowley's Ironworks (i.e. the 18th century). The remaining walls of the structure probably date to the mid to late 19th century. The 1718 map shows a rectangular building in this location annotated as 'Half Forge' and this is also shown on a map dated 1802. The 1870 plan of the ironworks shows a similar layout to the excavated remains, with a building narrower at its northern end. This structure was still extant until 1919, and was demolished sometime between this date and the 1960s. Within this building were the remains of a furnace identified as the chimney end of a probable puddling furnace (Image 3). The puddling furnace was invented by Peter Onions and patented by Henry Cort in 1783-4 and was designed to create wrought iron from pig iron produced in a blast furnace. The structural remains surviving at Swalwell comprised a main outer skin of bricks with several phases of inner brick skins that represented repairs and replacements to the structure over time. As with the building within which it was situated, this furnace was located in a similar position to a furnace shown on the 1718 map, but is likely to date from the mid to late 19th century.

Brick chimney end of puddling furnace

Several cemented slag deposits were located in the corridor between the two principal structures and these are likely to represent external surfaces, constructed with waste products from the ironworks. Cartographic evidence shows that this area was an open space from at least the time of the 1718 map of the ironworks, where it is annotated as 'a passage between Wharf B and the ½ forge', until at least the 1960s. Within this corridor, a square feature with brick and sandstone walls and sandstone capping slabs was exposed and this is likely to represent a capped well.

The post-excavation assessment report detailing the results of the excavation is to be issued in the late summer of 2006.

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