Chimney In Bishop Auckland, County Durham
One of the remaining arches carrying a two mile horizontal chimney as part of a flue system.
Looking at this cool little arch in Rookhope you may be thinking it's part of a bridge, but why doesn't it span the stream and where did it actually take you?
The answer is simple. It's not an arch from a bridge, it's really one of six arches that carried a two-mile horizontal flue chimney over the ground and high into the moors.
The village had a lead-smelting works in the early 1800s and needed to release any poisonous fumes well away from the houses. The nearby barren moors seemed a perfect choice and additionally this long, sloping flue would allow the fumes to cool and lead particles could be recovered.
On the moors at the end of the flue would have been a wooden chimney where the gas would have escaped.
Just over the road you can see the rubble from another part of the flue and so we scrambled up the slope to have a look.
These are remnants of the flue.
We headed back down for one final photo.
What three words
truckload.spruced.heap
Lat / Long
54.7816, -2.118851
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If you head east along the road there is a finger post leading into the field with a footbridge over the stream. Heading west, you can go over the stone bridge and then through a gate into the field where the arch stands.
What three words
compiled.reputable.caressed
Lat / Long
54.781951, -2.119505
There is a dedicated car park just across the road from the arch with an information board.
Place contributed by Simon Hawkins
Thanks for checking out this place on the Fabulous North! I do enjoy a wander out in to the countryside trying to find hidden gems that not many people know about. You can't beat a rogue Pele tower up a remote hill or a mysterious stone circle or a stunning waterfall secluded in a forest.
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