COLLINGWOOD MAIN. Burdon Main. Chirton, Durham. 17th. July, 1813.

The colliery was in the Village of Chirton to the west of South Shields and was the property of Messrs. Bells, Robinson and Company. Coal had been worked there since the seventeenth century and the old shafts were reopened in 1814. The Old Pit near the banks of the Tyne had not been used for some time. The shaft went through the coal measures and the first seam that was found was the High Main coal at 50 fathoms. This was about six feet thick but, at the time of the disaster, had been worked out. About 28 yards lower was the Metal Coal Seam but this was found to be unworkable. The next seam was the yard Coal, seven feet thick but the upper part of this was not worked. Eleven fathoms lower was the Five Quarter Coal which was not of good quality and below that was the Low Main seam which was the seam that was being worked and was of excellent quality. The coal was drawn from the “A” Pit and the West Chirton Pit. The latter was about 110 fathoms deep and the former was 120 fathoms. The workings in the Low Main seam extended under the Tyne to the sea low water mark.

The Old Pit and the Hopewell shafts were a considerable distance to the north and these were the upcast shaft with furnaces which consumed a caldron of coal per day. the mine was said to be “clean”. Hair states, “The apparent cleanliness of the mine was inferred from the appearance of the men when they are drawn up from work.” The coal was brought to the surface by a 30 h.p. engine and taken to the “spouts” at the North Shields Railway, the greater part of which was an inclined plane.

The papers of the day recorded that Mr. Hope, one of the viewers, Mr. Wild the overman and two young men by the name of Richardson were among those who were killed. The Richardsons had no parents and supported their grandmother who was reported to be in her hundred and second years.

The explosion, which Hair says was in 1815 and Galloway the above date, killed eight workmen and injured two others. The ventilation was obstructed by a creep and candles were in use in the mine. The overman, deputies and others had gone down to secure some timber, iron and other materials which were likely to be lost because of the creep and the gas fired at their lights. There had been no reported accidents at the mine before.

A local Burial Register lists the following names:

  • William Hope of North Shields aged 45 years.
  • Ralph Hope of North Shields aged 24 years.
  • Joseph Campbell of North Shields aged 26 years.
  • Ralph Wile of North Shields aged 41 years.
  • George Richardson of North Shields aged 18 years.
  • William Richardson of North Shields aged 16 years.
  • Robert Clark of North Shields aged 18 years.
  • Thomas Miller of North Shields aged 16 years.

 

REFERENCES
Annals of Coal Mining. Galloway. Vol.1, p.403.
Coal Mines. Holmes. p.50, 51.
Sketches of the Collieries of Northumberland and Durham. T.H. Hair.
The Select Committee on Accidents in Coal Mines, 1835, 1,303-5.
Newcastle Courant.
Newcastle Advertiser.

Information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre.

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