Cold Hesledon
Cold Hesledon is a village and former civil parish, now in the parishes of Murton and Dalton-le-Dale, in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It is situated a short distance to the east of Murton. In 1961 the parish had a population of 997.[1]
Cold Hesledon | |
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Dalton Pumping Station | |
Cold Hesledon Location within County Durham | |
Civil parish | |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Dalton Pumping Station
Within the village is a large Victorian, Gothic Revival former Water pumping station, designed by Thomas Hawksley for the Sunderland and South Shields Water Company.[2] The engine house contains a pair of 72" single-acting non-rotative Cornish beam engines by Davy Bros of Sheffield, dating from the 1870s when the complex was built. (Pumping engines of this period were more often of a double-acting rotative design (as seen at nearby Ryhope); the use of Cornish engines here seems to be due to the great depth of the well - some 450 feet.) The site suffered for many years from subsidence due to nearby mine workings; this in part led to the engines being decommissioned in the 1940s, and to the demolition in the 1960s of the striking campanile-like top section of the central tower/chimney. (The surviving chimney tower at Bestwood Notts., by the same architect, is of an almost identical design.)
The pumping station site was bought in 1995 with a view by its owners to transform it into a pub; however the building became Grade II* listed, which allegedly stopped its development. Other options are now being explored by the owners.[3]
Other notable landmarks
Nearby is Dalton Tower, a ruined tower house.
Civil parish
Cold Hesledon was formerly a township in the parish of Dalton-le-Dale,[4] from 1866 Cold Hesledon was a civil parish in its own right,[5] on 1 April 1983 the parish was abolished and merged with Dalton-le-Dale, Hawthorn and Murton.[6]
References
- "Population statistics Cold Hesledon Tn/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
- 'Conservation Statement for Dalton Pumping Station', North of England Civic Trust, May 2010.
- 'Conservation Statement for Dalton Pumping Station', North of England Civic Trust, May 2010, page 24.
- "History of Cold Hesledon, in Easington and County Durham". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
- "Relationships and changes Cold Hesledon Tn/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
- "Durham Eastern Registration District". UKBMD. Retrieved 6 August 2023.