Houghton Colliery Retail Site

In July 2017 Sunderland City Council agreed to dispose 3.36 hectares of the former Houghton Colliery Site.

Four years later it was confirmed that the anchor tenant Tesco would be alongside Home Bargains.

Work got underway in June 2023, with the construction of the new retail park taking just under a year and a half to complete. 

Coalfields Sunderland Councillors, in partnership with Hellens, provided funding to create artwork to commemorate all of the people who worked at the colliery, and recognise their contribution to the heritage of the local area. 

"Shifting Times is a collaborative work between 'Two Red Rubber Things' and 'Creative Ape Fabrications'.

The chosen title for the sculpture 'Shifting Times' was chosen because it is about the transfer of the site of an old colliery to a modern retail outlet. The idea is to depict th hanging up of the old mining equipment once and for all.

The mining of the area was a major forming factor on the landscape, and the community of this part of the world for centuries. This is out nod to it's demise ad the recognition of moving on"

Ray and Sam Lonsdale