Elba Park

Mention the words “Elba Park” and many people, even those local to the area, will return a puzzled look. Mention “Lambton coke works” and most people will immediately know the area being referred to but will not know why the former coke works site has now been named Elba Park. Elba is a reference to a small village, or hamlet, which was associated with Bournmoor but which lay to the east of what is modern-day Bournmoor. Elba no longer exists and the “Elba” page of this website explores the possible origins of the name as well as the history of the village itself.

Above: Elba Park, by the A183, July 2012

The coke works site, as it is commonly known, has a long history and has seen many industries over the years; colliery brickworks, tile production, coking works and gas production.

Above: Coke works site, partly demolished. Taken 11th July, 1986, photograph courtesy of Mr John Coyles

The site has most recently been owned by British Coal then Sunderland City Council and now forms part of the National Coalfields Regeneration Programme, managed by the regeneration agency English Partnerships and One North East. The coke works closed in 1984 and the coke ovens were demolished soon after. The site came under the ownership of Sunderland City Council. Since then, the site has lain largely derelict, though some money was invested by British Coal into regenerating the land. However, when the organisation ended operations in 1997, restoration work ceased.

Government Minister Stephen Byers announced that as part of the government’s £285 million plan to reclaim and restore former coalfield sites, reclamation work was being planned for the site, to be carried out by Sunderland City Council and English Partnerships. Plans included the construction of 350 new homes on the site. A network of paths through the park were planned to connect woodland and wetland areas, as well as open grassland to actively encourage the return of flora and wildlife.

The site itself covers approximately 65 hectares and was originally identified as being one of the North East’s most contaminated sites, due to the high level of industrial activities which have taken place over the years. Contractors estimated there to be approximately 500,000 tons of polluted waste on the site and that complex ground water monitoring systems would have to be installed. Extensive clean-up work would be required, followed by extensive re-development and landscaping of the site. Included in the development plans was a new link road for the city’s (Sunderland) central route, which would complete the connections between the A182 Washington Highway and Houghton-le-Spring and beyond. It was intended that the construction of this link road would contribute to reducing traffic congestion in areas such as Bournmoor and Fencehouses and potentially create jobs at Rainton Bridge, Dubmire and Sedgeletch Industrial Estates. This link road was never built due to funding problems.

With the discovery on the site of the well-preserved 18^th century wooden waggonway in 1997, it was also suggested that the site could have a heritage-style future which could benefit the local communities as well as be a reminder of the long history of the site. The waggonway had been superbly preserved thanks to compacted coal dust and clay. In 1997, in readiness for the land reclamation project, thousands of tons of topsoil was moved to the site. The project then came to a halt when vital cash for the continuation of the project was not forthcoming. To assist with funding of the project, it was also suggested by a Sunderland councilor that local landowners, the Lambton family, should contribute to the clean up and development of the site.

The work on the site took place in phases.

Phase 1 was the initial preparatory phase and involved gaining planning consents and budgets.

Phase 2 required detailed ground investigation, testing and collation of data. With the data produced from the investigation works, 3D contamination mapping was compiled, cleanup targets were derived and detailed design of the remediation process was carried out. These were all presented to, and agreed with, the regulatory authorities.

Phase 3 of the works entailed the creation of a housing platform and sections of road embankment.

Phase 4 of the project entailed the final profiling and landscaping of the country park area, completion of soil remediation, the construction of the final section of road embankment and treatment of mine shafts. This phase also saw the permeable reactive barrier installed to protect the Herrington Burn from residual groundwater contamination.

The park was officially opened on 1^st October 2010, a wet and windy day, with the unveiling of a mining memorial artwork to commemorate the area’s coal mining heritage, by ex-Sunderland and Newcastle United footballer Paul Bracewell.

Above: Plan of the Park taken from one of the visitor boards

Below: Early images of the park under construction:

In the park is a range of public artwork chosen by local people to commemorate Lambton’s history, where 127 pitmen are known to have lost their lives. Artist Colin Wilbourn joined forces with local people and the Lambton Memorial Group to create the impressive tribute artwork for the park.

Nearby stands a series of wrought iron sculptures created by artist Craig Knowles in the style of miners’ banners, designed by children from four local schools (St. Michaels, Burnside, Shiney Row, Dubmire), with additional funding from Sunderland City Council and the Coalfields Regeneration Trust.

A new footbridge over the Herrington Burn in the park includes handrails representing miners’ pickaxes.

Construction of 359 energy-efficient homes is now underway on the part of the site nearest the A183 by David Wilson Homes.

From late 2010 to early 2011, a sales office was situated by the north entrance to the park for the sale of homes on the park.

In February 2011, a new wrought iron sculpture was placed by the (A183) entrance to the park, depicting the Lambton Worm, with the date MMX marked at the top of the structure.

The small plate, just visible to the right of the above sculpture reads as follows:

'The Lambton Worm' By Craig Knowles presented by Pat Simmons, the Lambton Memorial Group and Bournmoor Primary School. Funded by The Coalfields Regeneration Trust.

The above artwork was by unveiled in the park by sculptor Colin Wilbourn on 23rd May 2011. It is a "two part" sculpture and was commissioned by the Homes and Community Agency to commemorate the park's industrial and cultural heritage. It is entitled "Wooden Waggonway" and "Up in Smoke". Wooden waggonway’ is a scaled representation of the waggonway discovered on the site on which the artwork sits in 1995, mounted on a horizontal stone slab, showing the layout of the surviving timbers beneath the ground. The upright section, named ‘Up in Smoke’, shows the site's industrial landscape at its height, with colliery buildings in the foreground and in the background, the Lambton Cokeworks billowing smoke.

Lambton Baths:

Just outside the park, at its south west corner were Lambton swimming baths. This building no longer exists and was many years within the remains of the scrapyard complex which is still located there. Lambton baths were a few yards away from the colliery offices and should not be confused with the Lambton pithead baths - not baths as such, but shower blocks - which were further up the road (Lambton Lane) in the direction of Fence Houses.

The white house, which stood in ruins for many years next to the road and pedestrian tunnels, used to be inhabited by the Lambton swimming baths superintendent Mr. Bland. On the 1970 map of the area it is indeed marked as “Bath House”. Bath House stood until August 2018 when it was demolished. See the New Lambton: Baths and New Lambton: Pit Head Baths pages of this website for more information.

The neighbouring pedestrian tunnel was added shortly after World War 2 in order to separate pedestrians from road traffic.

The above modern-day picture is taken from the (disused) railway line, above the road and pedestrian tunnels looking in the direction of Elba Park. The New Lambton entrance to the Park is in the background, on the bend of the road. Bath House is just visible, obscured by the trees on the right. The wooded area to the left, behind the fence, is where Railway Terrace, New Lambton, once stood (see picture below) until it was demolished in 1974.

It is interesting to compare the above two pictures. In the black and white picture above, dating from the 1950's, Railway Terrace is on the left. In the distance, the low buildings are the colliery offices of Lambton D Pit, the colliery itself is in the background. The colliery offices stand where the New Lambton entrance to Elba Park is located today.

Regarding Lambton Baths and Bath House, it is noteworthy that Mr. Bland's son, Donald (b. 23rd March 1931) did a lot of his swimming training at Lambton baths. Donald worked for the National Coal Board and was also an accomplished swimmer. Aged just 17, he took part in the 1948 summer Olympic Games in London and reached 7th place of the men's 1500 yards freestyle. Donald also had the following finishes at major championships:

3rd in the 1950 British Empire Games 220 yards Freestyle Relay.

4th in the 1950 British Empire Games 1650 yards Freestyle

6th in the 1950 British Empire Games 440 yards Freestyle

4th in the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in the 220 yards freestyle relay and

5th in the 1650 yards freestyle, but was eliminated in the heats of the 440 yards freestyle

In the British Empire Games he competed for England. Mr Bland moved on to a swimming pool in Southampton and Tom Murtagh took over at Lambton. Directly by the pithead and at a right angle to Railway Terrace was another street running across called 'D' Pit Row and this road took you north towards Elba. For a picture of D Pit Row please refer to the “Collieries” page of this site. A short distance along the road towards Fence Houses, quite close to the Lumley Park Burn, there was also a 'day drift' that went down to the pit. This was used by miners going into the pit during the day. They came back to the surface at the end of their shift using the cages in the nearby pit shaft. This day drift was also used as an air raid shelter during World War 2. A little distance further towards Fence Houses is the site of the former 'Lady Ann' pit shaft, pictures of which can be found on the ‘Collieries’ page of this site. With regards to the entrance to Elba Park at the New Lambton end, it has already been mentioned that this is quite close to the site of the shaft of the former Lambton D Pit.