BRICKS from a Victorian gas works thought to have been long-destroyed have been found on the site of a former passport office.

The demolition team working on the site of the former passport office in Durham found bricks belonging to the gas works which once occupied the site.

They are now being shipped off to a project in Sudbury, Derbyshire, which is refurbishing a gas works from the same era to try and preserve the area’s coal mining heritage.

Ian Beaumont, Milburngate project director, said: “These bricks represent an important part of UK industrial heritage and we have the opportunity bring them back into use after being buried under the site for more than 100 years.

“The Sudbury Gasworks project is the ideal location for the firebricks as they will not only help with the restoration of the building, but help educate future generations about the engineering advances made by the Victorians.”

The Milburngate development scheme is on the same site as works owned by City of Durham Gas Company, which produced the city’s gas until the 1950s.

Set up in 1856, the plant reached its full extent in 1939 but were largely demolished in the 1950s.

The firebricks, part of a flue structure which was part of the old retort house – an oven where coal was baked to release gas – survived because it was constructed several metres below ground.

The Sudbury Gasworks Restoration Trust, which is restoring a Grade two listed gasworks from 1874, is planning to use the bricks to rebuild its retort.

Timothy Webber, the trust’s chairman, said: “We are extremely grateful to the team at Milburngate for the donation of these bricks, which will be incorporated into our restoration of the Sudbury Gasworks.

“The building, including the retort house, will give visitors a better understanding of how gas was produced from coal and the various functions of the rooms within the gas house, while creating a new community resource for our area.”

The project is aimed at getting people involved in finding out about the history of the building, conserving and extending the building and providing a modern community facility.

Prof Russell Thomas, technical director at WSP, which is working on site at Milburngate, said: “It’s fantastic to be able to support a project that recognises the important role coal played in England for many, many years.”

“I was aware of the project at Sudbury and when the bricks were discovered under Milburngate I knew they could be of practical benefit to the Trust in Derbyshire. Both regions have strong coal mining heritage and it’s with excitement that I await the building’s restoration.”