Burdon Main Colliery	Index	Burdon Main Colliery

Location:	North Sheilds 6½ miles [11 km] ENE of Newcastle
Map Ref:	(Sheet 88) NZ353672, 54° 59' 53" N, 1° 26' 53" W
Opened:	1811
Closed:
Pits:	A Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ352671, sinking: 02 Nov 1829
	Shaft details for A Pit
	Chance Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ343680
	Shaft details for Chance Pit
	Chirton Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ343680
	Shaft details for Chirton Pit
	Engine Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ353673
	Shaft details for Engine Pit
	Hopewell Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ347679
	Shaft details for Hopewell Pit
	Old Pit
	West Chirton Pit
Owners:	1811 - Messrs. Bells, Robson, & Co.
	1850's - Hope
Employment:	1854 - 0 [Working]
Seams Worked:	1844 - Low Main
	Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Burdon Main Colliery

Description

This colliery is the easternmost on the north bank of the Tyne, and is situated in the township of Chirton, which forms the western suburb to the town of North Shields. It was commenced in 1811, by Messrs. Bells, Robson, and Co. Coals, however, had been worked here during the last century ; and on opening one of the old shafts in the year 1814, the skeleton of man was discovered at the depth of 30 fathoms. The Old Pit, situated near the banks of the Tyne, has not been used for drawing coals for some time ; that operation being performed at the A Pit, at some distance to the west, and also at the West Chirton pit. At a depth of about 13 fathoms, lies "the 70 fathom post," but which is here only about 40 yards thick. A black stone succeeds, beneath which is "the main post;" under which, at a depth of about 50 fathoms from the surface, lies the High Main Coal seam, averaging about six feet thick, but now worked out. The Metal Coal Seam, about 28 yards lower, is not workable. The next seam, "the Yard Coal," is, in reality, about seven feet thick ; but the upper part of it is so mixed with extraneous matter as to be useless. Eleven fathoms lower is the " Bensham seam," now worked out. What is called "the Five-quarter Coal" is here scarcely discernable ; and the next seam, "the Low Main," is, indeed, the only one now worked, being of excellent quality. This, at the West Chirton pit, is about 110 fathoms below the surface ; and, at the A Pit, 120 fathoms. Its average thickness is about five feet. The workings extend beneath the bed of the Tyne to about low-water-mark. The Old Pit and the Hopewell, the latter situated at a considerable distance to the north, are used as upcast shafts, which, together with an excellent system of ventilation, facilitated in one instance by a furnace consuming about a chaldron of coals per day, produce such a current of fresh air through the workings as to render the use of lamps almost unnecessary. Indeed, the comparative cleanliness of the mine may be inferred from the appearance of the men when drawn up from their work. The coals are brought to bank by an engine of 30-horse power ; and are conveyed to the spouts at North Shields by a railway, the greater part of which is an inclined plane.

Views of the Collieries (1844)

Disasters (5 or more killed)

	17th	Jul	1813		Explosion, 8 lives lost (Show Names)
	19th	Nov	1835		Explosion, 11 lives lost (Show Names)

Names of those killed at this colliery

Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!

						Arkley, Joseph, 19 Nov 1835, 4:00 p.m., aged 10, killed in the 1835 explosion [More information ...]
						Athey, Richard, 19 Nov 1835, 4:00 p.m., killed in the 1835 explosion [More information ...]
						Campbell, James, 19 Nov 1835, 4:00 p.m., killed in the 1835 explosion [More information ...]
						Campbell, Joseph, 17 Jul 1813, aged 26, killed in the 1813 explosion [More information ...]
						Clark, George, 19 Nov 1835, 4:00 p.m., killed in the 1835 explosion [More information ...]
						Clark, Robert, 17 Jul 1813, aged 18, killed in the 1813 explosion [More information ...]
						Coxon, John, 19 Nov 1835, 4:00 p.m., killed in the 1835 explosion [More information ...]
						Hill, Ralph, 19 Nov 1835, 4:00 p.m., killed in the 1835 explosion [More information ...]
						Hope, Ralph, 17 Jul 1813, aged 24, killed in the 1813 explosion [More information ...]
						Hope, William, 17 Jul 1813, aged 45, killed in the 1813 explosion [More information ...]
						Miller, Thomas, 17 Jul 1813, aged 16, killed in the 1813 explosion [More information ...]
						Pearson, Robert, 19 Nov 1835, 4:00 p.m., killed in the 1835 explosion [More information ...]
						Pinkney, Thomas, 19 Nov 1835, 4:00 p.m., killed in the 1835 explosion [More information ...]
						Richardson, George, 17 Jul 1813, aged 18, killed in the 1813 explosion [More information ...]
						Richardson, William, 17 Jul 1813, aged 16, killed in the 1813 explosion [More information ...]
						Robson, Samuel, 19 Nov 1835, 4:00 p.m., killed in the 1835 explosion [More information ...]
						Whitfield, George, 19 Nov 1835, 4:00 p.m., killed in the 1835 explosion [More information ...]
						Wile, Ralph, 17 Jul 1813, aged 41, killed in the 1813 explosion [More information ...]
						Wood, James, 19 Nov 1835, 4:00 p.m., killed in the 1835 explosion [More information ...]
						19 names found

If you know of any fatalities missing from the above list then please contact us with the details and we will add them to our database.

Some of the names of mining fatalities on this page have been kindly provided by Ian Winstanley of the Coal Mining History Resource Centre and are marked with , further details may be obtained by contacting Ian by email at ian.winstanley@blueyonder.co.uk

  more information on some of the fatalities shown above

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

  a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Burdon Main Colliery

  list of collieries/pits etc. near to Burdon Main Colliery

Credits

Sources:

Pictures:

Related Links:

	On this site
	Names of those killed in the 1813 disaster
	Names of those killed in the 1835 disaster
	Views of the Collieries in the Counties of Northumberland and Durham by T. H. Hair (1844) — Collingwood or Burdon Main Colliery
	Pictures in the Gallery section for Burdon Main Colliery

Further Reading:

• Explosions in Coal Mines by W. N. & J. B. Atkinson, published in 1886

Further Research:

  Research Notes for Burdon Main Colliery