Powerhouse, office and substation at Skelton Park disused iron mine

Powerhouse circa 1876, for Bell Brothers' Skelton Park iron mine.

MATERIALS: red brick in English bond, rock-faced and margined sandstone quoins and other dressings; red, corrugated tile roof; timber bargeboards with decorative finials and pendants.

LAYOUT: single storey with basement, built into the hillside so that the basement is at ground level on the north west side.

EXTERIOR: the building is gabled, the entrance being via double doors set in a round arched opening central to the north-eastern gable end. The south-western gable end has three tall, round arched windows. The side elevations each have six, evenly spaced round arched windows, formerly with sliding sashes. All of these openings have stone cills and arches. The basement is unlit, but has a single doorway next to the ironwork remains of a piece of equipment attached to the north western wall. The exterior also has three round openings for large diameter pipes formed with fire brick headers.

INTERIOR: forms a single room above the basement which is mainly taken up by substantial brick piers forming engine-beds.

SUBSIDIARY ITEMS: Time Office: attached to the south western gable of the power house. This is a single storey hipped roof building now missing most of its roof covering. Double entrance doors and window on the south west side, the north east side (facing the pit yard) being almost entirely of windows except for a doorway to a separate room on the north side, this is thought to have been a garage for a horse drawn ambulance.

Electricity substation: is sited across the road east of the power house. It is a two storey brick building with a flat concrete roof topped by two brick built ventilators. The tall ground floor is divided into two chambers for transformers. The room above, formerly accessed via an external staircase, was for switch-gear.