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  Witton Colliery  Index  Witton Colliery  

Witton Colliery

(See also Charlaw Colliery)


  Description Disasters Names Local Collieries Credits  

Location: Sacriston
3 miles [5 km] NW of Durham
Map Ref: (Sheet 88) NZ238461, 54° 48' 33" N, 1° 37' 47" W
Maps: 1951 map from the Guide to the Coalfields (Colliery Guardian)
Opened: 1860
Closed: 08 Jan 1966
Sinking Started: 1859
Pits:   Shaft details for Witton Colliery
Owners: 1890's - Charlaw & Sacriston Collieries Co. Ltd.
1947 - National Coal Board (N.C.B.)
Output: 1896 - Coal: Gas, Manufacturing.
1940 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Household. (7,000 tons)
1947 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Household, Manufacturing, Steam. (85,000 tons)
1948 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Household, Manufacturing.
1949 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Manufacturing, Steam.
1950 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Household, Manufacturing.
1951 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Manufacturing, Steam.
1952 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Manufacturing, Steam.
1953 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Manufacturing, Steam.
1954 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Manufacturing, Steam.
1955 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Manufacturing, Steam.
1956 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Manufacturing, Steam.
1957 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Manufacturing, Steam.
1964 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Manufacturing, Steam.
Employment:
Year Pit  Total Below Above
189641834870
194037028090
1940302010
Total400300100
1945958727231
1945inc. Sacriston Busty
1947320220100
1948963680283
1948inc. Sacriston Busty
1949946680266
1949inc. Sacriston Busty
1950685498187
1950inc. Sacriston Busty
1951946680266
1951inc. Sacriston Busty
1952946680266
1952inc. Sacriston Busty
1953946680266
1953Inc. Sacriston
1954946680266
1954Inc. Sacriston
1955814585229
1955Inc. Sacriston
195651842296
1956Inc. Sacriston
1957566422144
1957Inc. Sacriston
196446737691
1964inc. Sacriston
  NCB Employment Figures
  Colliery Management (prior to 1958)
Seams Worked: 1940 - Hutton
1948 - Brass Thill, Brockwell, Busty
1949 - Brass Thill, Brockwell, Busty
1950 - Brass Thill, Brockwell, Busty, Low Main
1951 - Brass Thill, Brockwell, Busty
1952 - Brass Thill, Brockwell, Busty
1953 - Brass Thill, Brockwell, Busty
1954 - Brass Thill, Brockwell, Busty
1955 - Brass Thill, Brockwell, Busty
1956 - Brass Thill, Brockwell, Busty
1957 - Brass Thill, Brockwell, Busty
1964 - Brass Thill, Low Main, Victoria
Notes:

1859 - Witton Pit, Charlaw Colliery, was sunk from the surface to the Hutton Seam.

1872 - Witton Pit, Charlaw Colliery, was sunk from the Hutton to the Busty Seam.



  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!

     

Bamford, Eli Wilfred, 17 Nov 1927, aged 25, Putter, killed by a fall of stone

      

Bamford, H. E., 08 Jul 1924, aged 29, Drawer, killed by a fall of stone

      

Blenkinsop, James Routledge, 1930, died after contracting gangrene in his leg because of a fall of stone [approximate date]

     

Burlison, William, 19 Apr 1917, (accident: 03 Apr 1917), aged 61, Waggon Chocker, he was working at bank, riding on the step of a truck in order to hold the brake. While applying the brake he overbalanced and was caught between a pillar and the side of the truck. He died in hospital from septic poisoning following rupture

     

Clark, John Henry, 26 Aug 1936, aged 42, Filler, killed by a fall of stone (his spine was fractured), he had suffered severe injuries in the same seam only a month before, Buried: Sacriston Cemetery

      

Cockbain, W. J., 11 Feb 1929, aged 31, Cutter Man, killed by a fall of stone

     

Cooper, James, 22 Jul 1928, aged 37, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone, Buried: Sacriston Cemetery

      

Danby, Thomas, 31 Oct 1921, (accident: 09 Jun 1921), aged 24, Hewer, received a blow on the head from the pick

      

Eltringham, W., 26 Jan 1933, aged 16, Bank Hand, caught by cage

     

Fairless, William, 15 Nov 1936, aged 55, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone, Buried: Sacriston Cemetery

      

Garforth, A., 28 Feb 1944, aged 34, Filler

    

Jacobs, James K., 26 Jun 1914, (accident: 10 Jun 1914), aged 34, Hewer

      

Naisbitt, N., 11 Jan 1947, (accident: 03 Dec 1946), aged 37, Stoneman, killed by a fall of stone

      

Pearson, Joseph, 18 Dec 1942, aged 33, Cutter, killed by a fall of stone while working at the East Main face, he was buried by about a ton of stone

     

Scott, John Thomas, 09 Apr 1941, aged 43, Filler, killed by a fall of stone, Buried: Sacriston Cemetery

      

Showler, J., 10 Aug 1933, aged 32, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone

      

Truelock, William, 27 Mar 1897, aged 30, Gatewayman, while stowing a pack wall a large stone fell from the roof and killed him

      

Watt, J., 13 Mar 1942, (accident: 12 Mar 1942), aged 58, Filler, caught by tubs

      

Wilkin, Herbert, 31 Jan 1922, aged 47, Onsetter, caught by cage

 
  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.

Those names marked with , have a web page providing individual details of the accident, the page may also include a photograph of the deceased. Click on the symbol next to the name to see the web page.

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 .

Some of the names of mining fatalities on this web site have been extracted from material deposited at the North East England Mining Archive and Research Centre (NEEMARC) — principally the records of the Durham Miners' Association and are marked with .


  Summary Description Disasters Names Credits  

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

  a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Witton Colliery

  list of collieries/pits etc. near to Witton Colliery


  Summary Description Disasters Names Local Collieries  

Credits

Sources:

  • 1880 List of Mines
  • 1881 Mines Inspectors Annual Report
  • 1884 List of Mines
  • 1896 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, also available online at Peak District Mines Historical Society Ltd
  • 1897 Mines Inspectors Report (C 8819), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
  • 1940 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory published by Louis Cassier Co. Ltd.
  • 1945 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
  • 1947 The Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
  • 1948 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
  • 1949 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
  • 1950 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
  • 1951 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
  • 1952 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
  • 1953 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
  • 1954 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
  • 1955 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
  • 1956 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
  • 1957 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
  • 1964 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
  • NEEMARC - Ref: NUMDA/1/6/39, D.M.A. Minutes, Circulars etc. for 1914 (two volumes: covers Jan-Jun, Jul-Dec)
  • Banners of the Durham Coalfield, Norman Emery, 1998, Sutton Publishing Ltd., ISBN 0-7509-1708-3
  • 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 Sacriston Cemetery
  • Victoria History of the Counties of England – Durham. Published in three volumes in 1907.

  Summary Description Disasters Names Local Collieries Credits  

Related Links:

None found

Further Reading:

  • Collieries of Durham (Volume 1), David Temple, 1994, TUPS Ltd., ISBN 1-871518-11-3
  • Banners of the Durham Coalfield, Norman Emery, 1998, Sutton Publishing Ltd., ISBN 0-7509-1708-3, provides a brief history of the colliery along with the history of the associated Miners Lodge Banner

Further Research:

  Research Notes for Witton Colliery


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Page last updated: 30 Oct 2008


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