Philadelphia Power Station is a defunct coal-fired power station

Fossil fuel power plant

A fossil-fuel power station is a power station that burns fossil fuels such as coal, natural gas or petroleum to produce electricity. Central station fossil-fuel power plants are designed on a large scale for continuous operation...

 situated between the villages of Philadelphia

Philadelphia, Tyne and Wear

Philadelphia is a village in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the A182 road between Newbottle and Shiney Row. Unlike Washington, it post-dates its namesake in the United States, being named during the American Revolutionary War by a local colliery owner to commemorate the British capture of the...

 and Newbottle

Newbottle, Tyne and Wear

Newbottle is a village in North East England, lying directly between Durham and Sunderland , one and a half miles north of Houghton-le-Spring...

, 1.5 mi (2.4 km) north of Houghton-le-Spring

Houghton-le-Spring

Houghton-le-Spring is part of the City of Sunderland in the county of Tyne and Wear, North East England that has its recorded origins in Norman times. It is situated almost equidistant between the cathedral city of Durham 7 miles to the south-west and the centre of the City of Sunderland about 6...

 in Tyne and Wear

Tyne and Wear

Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...

, North East England

North East England

North East England is one of the nine official regions of England. It covers Northumberland, County Durham, Tyne and Wear, and Teesside . The only cities in the region are Durham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland...

.

History

The station was built by the Sunderland District Electric Tramways Ltd and the Durham Collieries Power Company. It was built to provide electricity for the local district tramway

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

 and collieries, and it was planned for the station to open in May 1905, but its opening was delayed slightly, also delaying the electrification of the tramway, and it didn't begin providing electricity for the tramway until 10 June 1905. The station was provided with coal from the nearby Dorothea Pit. By 1911, the station was part of the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Company

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Electric Supply Company

The North Eastern Electric Supply Company was responsible for the supply of electricity to a large amount of North East England, prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity industry with the Electricity Act 1947...

's system.

After closing, the station was used as a central garage by the National Coal Board

National Coal Board

The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...

. The station's generating hall

Turbine Hall

The turbine hall, generating hall or turbine building is a building that is a part of any steam cycle or hydroelectric power plant which houses a number of components vital to the generation of electricity from the steam that comes from the boiler, or from the water coming from the reservoir...

 still stands today, along with two smaller associated buildings, and they are Grade II listed. The generating hall is a single-gabled

Gable

A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...

 yellow brick built building with red brick dressings and felt roofing, and is currently one of a number of workshop

Workshop

A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...

s on the Philadeliphia Complex. Persimmon Homes have applied to refurbish the building and bring it into mixed commercial use, as part of a refurbishment of the Philadelphia Complex.