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  Low Bitchburn Colliery  Index  Low Bitchburn Colliery  

Low Bitchburn Colliery

also known as Low Beechburn Colliery

(See also Thistle Flat Colliery)


  Description Disasters Names Local Collieries Credits  

Location: Crook
8½ miles [13 km] SW of Durham
Map Ref: (Sheet 92) NZ163347, 54° 42' 28" N, 1° 44' 48" W
Maps: 1928 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
1949 map detailed map from the Ordnance Survey
Opened:
Closed: 1937
Owners: 1880's - John Sharp
1890's - Low Beechburn Coal Co. Ltd.
1930's - Beechburn Coal & Firebrick Co. Ltd.
1930's - Hird & Co.
Output: 1888 - Coal.
1896 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing, Steam. Fireclay.
1902 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing, Steam. Fireclay.
1914 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.
1921 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.
1923 - Coal: Coking. Fireclay.
1924 - Coal: Coking. Fireclay.
1925 - Coal: Manufacturing, Steam. Fireclay.
1927 - No. 1 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Household.
1927 - No. 2 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Household.
1929 - No. 1 - Coal: Gas, Household. Fireclay.
1930 - No. 1 - Coal: Gas, Household. Fireclay.
1934 - Coal: Household, Manufacturing. Fireclay.
Employment:
Year Pit  Total Below Above
189622816365
190220816048
191413610432
1921947816
192317314726
192463558
1924Temporarily closed
1925483315
1927No. 139327
1927No. 2431
1927No. 2Abandoned 10/10/27
Total43358
1929No. 116106
1930No. 1963
1930No. 1Abandoned
1934472918
  Colliery Management (prior to 1955)
Seams Worked: 1894 - Big Busty, Little Busty, Main Coal, Top Main
1914 - Busty, Harvey, Hutton, Yard
1921 - Ballarat, Busty, Five Quarter, Harvey, Hutton, Main Coal, Yard
1923 - Busty, Five Quarter, Main Coal, South Top Main
1924 - Busty, Five Quarter, Main Coal, South Top Main [Temporarily closed]
1925 - Busty, Five Quarter
1927 - No. 1 - Five Quarter, Little Busty, Main Coal, Top Main
1927 - No. 2 - Main Coal [Abandoned 10/10/27]
1929 - No. 1 - Main Coal, Top Main
1930 - No. 1 - Main Coal, Top Main [Abandoned]
1934 - Brockwell, Top Main
    Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Low Bitchburn Colliery
Notes:

1876, 29 Apr - Brockwell seam abandoned

1883, 13 Jan - Busty seam abandoned

1930, 09 Dec - Main, Hutton, Yard, Ballarat, Busty, Five Quarter seams abandoned

1936, 05 May - Top Main or Main and Brockwell (Worked as one seam) seam abandoned

1937 - Harvey seam abandoned



  Summary Disasters Names Local Collieries Credits  

Description


  Summary Description Names Local Collieries Credits  

Disasters (5 or more killed)

None Found


  Summary Description Disasters Local Collieries Credits  

Names of those killed at this colliery

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

      

Allison, Robert, 29 Mar 1869, aged 71, Hewer, a shot exploded unexpectedly

      

Bland, James, 06 Dec 1864, (accident: 05 Dec 1864), aged 12, Driver, crushed by tub

      

Brown, John, 07 Oct 1887, aged 61, Hewer, caught by engine set as he was coming outbye, he having been previously cautioned

      

Cauden, Joseph, 06 Jan 1882, (accident: 04 Jan 1882), aged 19, Hewer, fall of stone in working place, Buried: Crook Churchyard

     

Collier, Edward, 14 Jul 1859, aged 15, Driver, killed by a tub falling down a staple

      

Cumming, John, 10 Jul 1862, aged 44, Hewer, crushed by tubs drawn by a horse

      

Firbank, William, 23 Sep 1889, aged 39, Shifter, died in the mine from heart disease, no inquest

      

Harper, William, 04 Jun 1903, aged 31, Banksman, when detaching the hauling rope from a set of full tubs, which had just come out of a drift, he fell and was run over and killed

      

Hebdon, William, 13 Feb 1865, aged 63, Screener, jammed by apparatus tub; chain broke [More information ...]

      

Hodge, George, 15 Feb 1893, 3:15 p.m., 6th hour of shift, aged 34, Hewer, Fall of stone which came off at a slip and canted out some props.

      

Oakey, John Sharp, 05 May 1865, (accident: 23 Apr 1865), aged 32, Manager, he was present when a boiler was being shifted; during the lowering of the boiler to its place one of the blocks of the pulleys broke, when the boiler swayed to one side, caught deceased on the back, and injured his spine; Okey died as a result of his injuries on 5 May

      

Rain, George, 16 Apr 1860, Hewer, killed by a fall of roof

      

Redfern, Thomas, 03 May 1911, aged 57, Stoneman, he was repairing and making available a road which had not been in use for some 20 years; at the place where the accident occurred a flag of sandstone at one side was overhanging a pack; the pack had fallen away, and the deceased and his mate cleared out the stones so as to build the pack right up to the roof; they thought the stone was sound but, as a precaution, set two props under it; while deceased was working under the stone it suddenly fell on to him knocking out both the props; he was instantly killed; probably the stone was set away from the roof at the edge and in driving the props up deceased broke the stone along the coal side

      

Rennison, John, 11 Apr 1868, aged 22, Hewer, he undermined a prop and so caused a fall of stone, which caused his death

      

Richardson, George, 17 Oct 1872, aged 62, Hewer, tubs got off the way on an engine plane and draw some timber which struck him

      

Sharp, Thomas, 23 Nov 1885, (accident: 10 Nov 1885), aged 43, Hewer, broken back by a fall of stone

     

Shaw, John, 22 Apr 1852, (accident: 10 Mar 1852), he had sustained severe injuries to his legs and spine when a fall of stone occurred on 10 March, the injuries left him with little use of his limbs, and eventually his leg became infected with gangrene, he died on 22 April

 
  17 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 web site have been kindly provided by Jim Grainger from his research into early newspapers (primarily the Durham Advertiser and Durham Chronicle) and are marked with .

  more information on some of the fatalities shown above


  Summary Description Disasters Names Credits  

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

  a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Low Bitchburn Colliery

  list of collieries/pits etc. near to Low Bitchburn Colliery


  Summary Description Disasters Names Local Collieries  

Credits

Sources:

  • 1860 Mines Inspectors Report
  • 1862 Mines Inspectors Report
  • 1864 Mines Inspectors Report
  • 1865 Mines Inspectors Report
  • 1868 Mines Inspectors Report
  • 1869 Mines Inspectors Report
  • 1872 Mines Inspectors Report (C 840)
  • 1880 List of Mines
  • 1881 Mines Inspectors Annual Report
  • 1884 List of Mines
  • 1885 Mines Inspectors Report (C 4760)
  • 1887 Mines Inspectors Report (C 5450)
  • 1888 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1889 Mines Inspectors Report (C 6015)
  • 1890 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1893 Mines Inspectors Report (C 7339), Durham District (No. 4) by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1896 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, also available online at Peak District Mines Historical Society Ltd
  • 1902 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1903 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 2119), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1909 List of Mines - from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
  • 1911 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 6237), Durham District (No. 3) by A. D. Nicholson, H.M. Inspector of Mines, copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1914 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1919 List of Mines - from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
  • 1921 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1923 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1924 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1925 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1927 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1929 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1930 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • 1934 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian.
  • Contributions by members of the Public
  • History, Topography, and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham by Francis Whellan. Second edition published in 1894.
  • Tombstone(s) in Churchyard, Crook

  Summary Description Disasters Names Local Collieries Credits  

Related Links:

None found

Further Research:

  Research Notes for Low Bitchburn Colliery

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