I've just done a search on Hauxwell and Crossgate and found the  
passage below.  It gives George Hauxwell as the owner.  I got the  
name Robert (one of his sons) from the drain cover outside my house!)

Mike


"Atherton Street dates from the 1860s but parts of the street  
adjoining North Road were demolished in 1970.

"In times gone by, Atherton Street was principally famed as the home  
of Hauxwell's Iron Foundry and Engineering Works, one of the best  
known firms in the city. Situated at number 8 Atherton Street, the  
firm was established by George Hauxwell, who was born at Great Ayton  
in about 1826. He moved north from Yarm, near Stockton, and  
established his works in Durham, near the viaduct around 1860. In the  
1870s, the firm acquired a rival foundry belonging to the Coulsons in  
the neighbouring street of Crossgate.

"In his later years, Hauxwell's three sons, William, Robert and  
George junior, assisted George in the business and the firm came to  
be known as George Hauxwell and Sons. By the time of the 1881 census,  
when George described himself as an iron founder and engine maker,  
the firm employed 22 men and eight boys, so it was a relatively small  
concern. Most of the foundry workers seem to have lived in the  
Crossgate area of the city.

"Over the years, Hauxwells was involved in all kinds of industrial  
activities, as colliery engineers, millwrights, iron founders,  
farriers, heating engineers and welders. One particular legacy of the  
firm was its manhole covers that can still be seen across Durham  
today. George Hauxwell became a JP and alderman in Durham and died in  
1897, but his firm continued to operate during the 20th Century. The  
building that housed the old foundry was unfortunately a part of  
Atherton Street that underwent demolition about 1970.

"The demolitions, which also affected some houses in neighbouring  
Sutton Street were necessary to make way for the new roads connected  
to the Castle Chare and North Road roundabout. A new section of  
Sutton Street that forms part of the A690 runs parallel to the  
viaduct and cuts through the old iron foundry site near the roundabout."




On 7 Jun 2007, at 07:24, John Shoebridge wrote:

> Hi All
>
> Here in NSW Australia we have come across a letter related to the  
> ordering of tram wheels  and tram plates from the Cross Gate  
> Foundry at Newcastle on Tyne...Is there by any chance anyone in our  
> group who can shed more light on this manufacturer ??..  of whom it  
> was said:- "They cast the best metal and have the best tradesmen"
>
> Regards
> John