Albany, Tyne and Wear
village and suburb of Washington, Tyne and Wear, England, UK
Albany is a suburb of Washington in the City of Sunderland in Tyne and Wear, historically part of County Durham. It is in the north of the town. The village is also relatively close to The Galleries Shopping Centre, Washington.
Washington 'F' Pit museum
The Washington 'F' Pit museum is in the village, consisting of an engine house and winding gear built atop one of the earliest colliery shafts in the country. In 1775 a lease was given to William Russell enabling him to mine coal on the Washington estate. He sank eight pits (designated 'A' to 'I') in the ensuing years; 'F' pit is believed to date from 1777.
Mining was halted in 1796 due to an explosion flooding the pit and stopping production. Operations recommenced in 1821
In 1856 the pit was extended down to a depth of 660 feet in order to access the Hutton Seam; in 1954 it was further deepened to reach the Busty Seam at a depth of 927 feet. For a time it was the most productive pit on the Washington coalfield, employing over 1500 men and garnering an annual total of 486,000 tons of usable coal in 1964–5. It was closed on 21 June 1968 as part of the National Coal Board's modernisation programme.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Albany, Tyne and Wear” is village and suburb of Washington, Tyne and Wear, England, UK. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Albany, Tyne and Wear, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “village and suburb of Washington, Tyne and Wear, England, UK” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 12, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4709275. Authority coordinates are 54.909, -1.541. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1775, 1777, 1796 and 1821.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Albany, Tyne and Wear”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Albany, Tyne and Wear primary sources, Albany, Tyne and Wear archive and Albany research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Albany, Tyne and Wear”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Albany, Tyne and Wear” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.