Dunston Hill is an old colliery worked from the reign of Elizabeth I. It is situated on the northern slope of Dunston Hill and includes the earthwork and other remains of early coal workings and part of an early wagonway embankment and cutting. The latter belong to the Northbanks Way built in 1699 by Charles Montagu. They survive because Northbanks Way was closed suddenly and permanently in 1723 by Lady Bowes and Lady Clavering. The cutting was the location for the first recorded railway brake-testing following its construction in 1699. The remains of the Northbanks-Dunston wagonway cutting are considered to be the finest example of pre-1720 railway engineering known to survive nationally.