| The village of Swalwell like Winlaton is an ancient one. It is situated on the lowlands below Whickham close to the river Derwent and only a short distance from the Tyne. When Ambrose Crowley set his sights on the village there was already a small iron foundry on the site. It was owned by Edward Harrison who sold out to Crowley in 1707. Ambrose cut a new mill race and built a dam about half a mile upstream to gain a steady head of water to power his new works. It was the manufacture of wrought iron anchors and chains for the Navy which prompted this expansion of the Crowley family iron business. Soon the works became the centre of operations in the northeast and the committees which met here held sway over the others at Winlaton and `The Mill' The manufacturing scope of the three factories changed. Swalwell added frying pans and salt pans to its' list. The were furnaces, forges, workshops and warehouses employing hundreds of men. Coal was an easy product to had at this time, the Bucksnook waggonway passed within a couple of hundred yards from the factory. Like Winlaton Mill houses were built for the workers. Soon there was a sizeable village which remains essentially the same today in layout. |