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1139

Wallsend Colliery

Wallsend, North Tyneside

54.99503,-1.53425

Gas Pit

C Pit

Opened:

Closed:

Entry Created:

3 Sept 2021

Last Updated:

10 May 2024

Redeveloped

Condition:

Owners: 

Description (or HER record listing)

C Pit at Wallsend may have once used the Wagonway (HER ref. 1137) to the south. It is marked "disused" on the 2nd edition Ordnance Survey Map (1894/5 survey). Wallsend Colliery (or Russell's Wallsend Colliery) opened before 1782. There were several pits - Church Pit (HER 1182), A Pit (HER 2089), C or Gas Pit (HER 1139), Edward Pit, F Pit (HER 2196), George Pit (NZ 309 664) and Rising Sun Pit (NZ 298 683 - not opened until 1906). William Russell opened the colliery. Subsequent owners were Losh, Wilson and Bell & Co, then Wallsend and Hebburn Coal Company. There were many explosions at the colliery - one in 1767, another on 4 December 1785 which killed 6 miners, on 9 April 1786, 6 more miners were killed. On 4 October 1790, 7 were killed, on 25 September 1799, 13 were killed, and another 13 on 20 September 1803. An explosion on 23 October 1821 left 52 miners dead, and 102 were killed on 18 June 1835 (a memorial was erected to the dead in 1994). On 19 December 1838, 11 miners were killed, and 5 on 9 August 1925.

NEHL - The C Pit stands at what is now Richardson Dees Park, which still features a plaque and memorial for the miners who passed in the disaster mentioned above. It was still in operation into the 1850s, with a row of around 10 terraced homes situated next door. In the 1850s, the pit had a number of substantial heaps with a pit reservoir contained the drained water. No other trace can be found today.

A waggonway permitted access to the Tyne via the same route as Park Road directly south to the river.

C Pit, 1830s. Source: Newcastle Libraries

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Historic Environment Records

Durham/Northumberland: Keys to the Past

Tyne and Wear: Sitelines

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HER information as described above is reproduced under the basis the resource is free of charge for education use. It is not altered unless there are grammatical errors. 

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