Historic England lists 12 new North East sites for 2023

Chain Home Low Radar Station in Craster has been given Grade II-listed status

An old railway pub and a former coastal radar bunker are among 12 North East sites to be newly listed in 2023 as local places of historic interest.

The 1820s Railway Tavern in Darlington and World War Two radar station in Craster, Northumberland, are worthy of preservation, conservationists said.

Historic England also included several sections of the Stockton and Darlington Railway (S&DR) in its annual list.

A fish smokehouse and former bank were also acknowledged on the latest list.

The Railway Tavern is believed to be one of the earliest railway pubs in the world

Darlington's Railway Tavern is believed to be "one of the earliest railway public houses in the world", Historic England said. The pub opened in 1827 and served as a "proto-station" for passengers travelling on the newly-created S&DR.

The pub, on High Northgate, was given Grade II status.

Several other sections of the S&DR, which celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2025, were listed, including:

• A bridge and culvert (Grade II) at Dene Beck near Darlington

• A wall of a former coal depot (Grade II) in Stockton

• Inclines at Etherley and Brusselton (scheduled monuments) near Bishop Auckland

• A route along the River Gaunless (scheduled monument) between Phoenix Row and West Auckland

• Earthworks (scheduled monument) in Preston Park in Stockton

Meanwhile, Chain Home Low Radar Station in Craster played a "crucial part in the defence of the nation" during World War Two, according to Historic England.

The station was built in 1941 and was one of more than 200 of its type erected to monitor the movement of German ships and planes in anticipation of any attempted invasion.

Only eight stations have survived in a complete, or near-complete, condition.

Historic England gave the station Grade II status, noting its intact condition showed how it had functioned in its capacity as a radar station and was a "physical reminder of wartime tensions and fears".

The Smokehouse in Craster was also Grade II listed, with conservationists crediting the 1853 building for its role as a "reminder of the once widespread north-east coast herring industry and its commercial significance in a national context".

Historic England said it marked a "significant survival of an increasingly rare building type that was once a common feature of 10th Century coastal towns" but had "proved vulnerable to demolition and alteration".

The former Lloyds Bank in Gateshead was built in 1914

Also given Grade II status was the former Lloyds Bank in Gateshead which Historic England said had a "strong streetscape presence" and was a "good example" of an early 20th century "purpose-built bank".

It was built in 1914 and retained a "dignified and monumental architectural character", conservationists said.

The building on West Street is set to become the new home of Kings Church Gateshead.