Lemington Power Station

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Coordinates: 54.974242° N 1.710171° W

Lemington Power Station
Lemington Power Station, viewed from Lemington Gut.
Lemington Power Station shown within Tyne and Wear
OS grid reference	NZ185644
Fuel:	Coal-fired
Commissioned:	1903
Decommissioned:	1919

Lemington Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated on the Lemington Gut near Newcastle upon Tyne. It stands in part of the ruins of the former Tyne Iron Company Ironworks. The Power Station was commissioned in 1903 by the Newcastle and District Lighting Company to provide electricity for the tram system in the west end of the city.^[1] A partner in this enterprise was Sir Matthew White Ridley, who also had considerable interests in coal and banking. The power station brought major environmental improvements to what was a highly polluted area. As well as providing power for the tram system, it was a source of electricity for local homes. Electricity represented a much cleaner source of energy than coal, and households gradually switched to the new power source.^[2]
It still stands today as a monument to the important role that Newcastle played in the development of electricity supply, as other early power staions in the area, like Dunston Power Station, Blaydon Power Station and Carville Power Station in Wallsend, have all been demolished. Lemington Power Station is a large double-gabled building, with round-headed openings and ridge ventilators. It was the first brick built power station in the North East.
Production of electricity ceased in the station in 1919, although it continued to supply power to the tram system until 1946 by acting as a substation with rotary converters, supplying the local tramway route to Throckley which also ceased in 1946.^[3] The main building still stands today as a protected historic building, but smaller buildings and the station's chimney were demolished in 1946. The remaining building is currently used for storage by a building company.