4289b
Montague Main Colliery
Denton
54.988013, -1.693005
Francis Pit
Opened:
Closed:
1750
pre-1860s
Entry Created:
25 Aug 2023
Last Updated:
25 Aug 2023
Redeveloped
Condition:
Owners:
William Benson & Sons
Description (or HER record listing)
NEHL - The Francis Pit appears to be one of the earlier 18th century Montague Main pits, and stood on what is now Eastbury Avenue. The shaft is illustrated as 'old' by the 1860s, though the shaft mount was still in situ right through to modern housing developments.
Coal from this pit likely used the Kitty's drift underground railway to ship coal to the Tyne, alongside the more well known Caroline Pit and View Pit closer to the Tyne.
1940s aerial imagery shows the site heavily wooded, though an ancillary building was still in situ.
Ordnance Survey, 1864
The Montague Main Collieries are evident in this aerial pit from the 1940s. The Francis Pit is furthest left in a triangular enclosure. Source: Google Earth
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Historic Environment Records
Durham/Northumberland: Keys to the Past
Tyne and Wear: Sitelines
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