| Gosforth Colliery | Index | Gosforth Colliery | ||
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Gosforth Colliery
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| Location: | Gosforth 3 miles [5 km] N of Newcastle |
| Map Ref: | (Sheet 88) NZ254684, 55° 0' 34" N, 1° 36' 10" W |
| Maps: |  1860s map detailed map from the Ordnance Survey |
| 1898 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide |
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| Opened: | 1825 |
| Closed: | |
| Sinking Started: | 1825 |
| Pits: | Brandling Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ254676 |
| Shaft details for Brandling Pit |
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| East Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ254682, opened: 1827, sinking: 1827 | |
| Shaft details for East Pit |
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| Fanny Pit | |
| West Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ254682, opened: 1827, sinking: 1827 | |
| Shaft details for West Pit |
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| Owners: | 1825 - Rev. R. H. Brandling |
| 1850's - Executors of Messrs. Brandling | |
| 1860's - Bowes, Hutt & Co. | |
| 1880's - John Bowes & Partners | |
| Output: | 1882 - Coal. |
| Employment: | 1854 - 0 [Working] |
| Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Gosforth Colliery |
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| Notes: | 1884 - Abandoned |
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Description
This colliery is situated about 3 miles north from Newcastle, and on the west bank of a romantic dean, through which the Ouse Burn winds its way to the Tyne. The sinking was commenced in 1825; and coal was won on Saturday, January 31, 1829. Great expense was incurred in this undertaking, from circumstances which have given a peculiar character to the pit. The High Main coal was come to at 25 fathoms below the surface; but, near it, the seam was thrown down in an inclined direction, by a dyke, to the depth of 1100 or 1200 feet. Hence, the quality of the coal, where it was originally met with, was so deteriorated by the proximity of the dyke, that it was necessary to sink the shaft perpendicularly to the depth of 181 fathoms, in order to come at the level of the lower range of the seam. In this operation, many of the succeeding seams of coal were passed, all more or less shattered by the dyke, and singularly placed at a higher level than the High Main, which, in a geological point of view, they underlie. On reaching the necessary depth, a horizontal drift, 700 yards long, was worked through the face of the dyke to the seam of coal, a little above its junction with the dyke. A great part of the above excavations was cut through solid rock.
The seam of coal, where it was first met with, had a rise of nearly 12 inches in a yard, down which the corves are conveyed on self-acting inclined planes; but, further on, the workings gradually become more level. The seam, which is of the first quality of Tyne coals, averages from 4 to 4½ feet thick; and the workings are not much incommoded with foul air. The coal on the south side has been worked out at a former period. To expedite the drawing of the corves, there are two shafts, contiguous to each other, each having a machine of 50-horse power; besides which there is a pumping-engine of 150 horse power. The waggon-way to the Tyne is about 3½ miles in extent; and the waggons are drawn thither principally by fixed engines.
The colliery is the property of the Rev. R. H. Brandling. The coals are called, in the London market, "Gosforth Wallsend."
Views of the Collieries (1844)
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Disasters (5 or more killed)
None Found
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Names of those killed at this colliery
Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!
Brewis, Richard, 09 Oct 1876, aged 23, Enginewright, fell a distance of 40 fathoms from a scaffold in back shaft | ||||||
Crosby, Francis, 02 Dec 1874, (accident: 14 Oct 1874), Hewer, fall of ramble stone | ||||||
Dees, John, 14 Jun 1849, aged 53, explosion of gas, Buried: St. Nicholas Churchyard, Gosforth [More information ...] | ||||||
Miller, Thomas, 11 Oct 1874, aged 27, Fireman, fell off pit heap, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 14 Oct 1874 {NBI} | ||||||
Pattison, George, 08 Sep 1873, aged 27, Labourer, run over by waggon | ||||||
Pringle, Thomas, 31 Dec 1872, aged 12, Putters Helper, killed by a fall of coal | ||||||
Sams, Stephen, 20 Sep 1875, aged 26, Enginewright, crushed by cage while removing a baulk | ||||||
| 8 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.
more information on some of the fatalities shown above
The following unnamed fatalities are listed in the Mines Inspectors Reports, once again this collection is not complete!
| Date |  |
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Inspectors Remarks |
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| 27 Aug 1851 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | |
| 03 Sep 1851 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | Firing a shot |
| 31 Dec 1851 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | |
| 08 Dec 1852 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | |
| 13 Jun 1853 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | |
| 25 Sep 1856 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | Crushed by tubs |
| 24 Jun 1858 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | fall of stone |
| 22 Oct 1861 | – | – | – | 1 | – | 1 | fall of coal |
| 14 Jan 1862 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | firing a shot |
| 02 Feb 1863 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | crush of tubs |
| 12 Apr 1864 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | crush of tubs, inclined plane |
| 15 Jul 1864 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | crush of tubs |
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Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)
a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Gosforth Colliery
list of collieries/pits etc. near to Gosforth Colliery
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Credits
Sources:
- 1854 List of mines by T. Y. Hall, published in Vol II (1853-4) of the Transactions of the North of England Institute of Mining Engineers
- 1869 List of Mines
- 1872 Mines Inspectors Report (C 840)
- 1873 Mines Inspectors Report (C 1056)
- 1874 Mines Inspectors Report (C 1216)
- 1875 Mines Inspectors Report (C 1499)
- 1876 Mines Inspectors Report (C 1734)
- 1880 List of Mines
- 1881 Mines Inspectors Annual Report
- An Account of the strata of Northumberland & Durham as proved by Borings & Sinkings, Supplement, published by the North of England Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers, 1910
- An Account of the strata of Northumberland & Durham as proved by Borings & Sinkings, Volume F-K, published by the North of England Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers, 1885
- Contributions by members of the Public
- Views of the Collieries in the Counties of Northumberland and Durham by T. H. Hair. First published in 1844.
Pictures:
- Views of the Collieries in the Counties of Northumberland and Durham by T. H. Hair. First published in 1844.
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Related Links:
| On this site | |
| | Newspaper articles |
| | Evidence given to the 1842 Children's Employment Commission |
| | Views of the Collieries in the Counties of Northumberland and Durham by T. H. Hair (1844) — Gosforth Colliery |
| | Pictures in the Gallery section for Gosforth Colliery |
Further Research:
Research Notes for Gosforth Colliery
