benw01b
Benwell Manor, coal mine
Benwell
54.973097, -1.660781
Opened:
Closed:
17th c
Unknown
Entry Created:
4 Dec 2023
Last Updated:
4 Dec 2023
Redeveloped
Condition:
Owners:
Description (or HER record listing)
NEHL - This is one of a large number of bell pits and deeper workings illustrated on a survey of the Manor of Benwell in 1637. By 1611, Benwell was one of the most important mining areas on Tyneside. By this year, there were 22 working pits in 7 different collieries which extended as deep as 192 ft, giving an impression it was more than just a pit. Within the next twenty years, an entire hierachy of viewers, hewers, bankmen and overmen developed into a recognisable colliery structure.
These pits were likely owned by the partnership of Newcastle Hostmen - Sir Peter Riddle, Thomas Surtees, Robert Shaftoe Snr & Jnr, William Hodgson, Henry Chapman and William Jennison. Richard Richardson also opened a number of pits at Stumplewood nr Benwell. One pit produced around 15,000 tons annually in these days, which only intensified by the 1660s with pits sprawing both the freehold and copyhold lands.
This specific pit was close to the original lane from Low Benwell to North Elswick, which followed a less formal trajectory than these days. The Charley Pit (4081) may have utilised the workings given it was opened in 1766.
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Historic Environment Records
Durham/Northumberland: Keys to the Past
Tyne and Wear: Sitelines
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