Sheriff Hill Colliery
Encyclopedia
Sheriff Hill Colliery was a coal mine at Gateshead Fell
, County Durham
, England
. The Colliery operated two main shafts and provided employment to the residents of Sheriff Hill
, a village formed by the enclosure of Gateshead Fell
, after it's opening in 1793. The pit suffered major accidents which resulted in the deaths of workers and was also the subject of a protracted strike
in 1834. The colliery closed in 1926.
(now the boundary between Sheriff Hill
and Low Fell
) approximately 2 3/4 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne
. The exact date of opening is not known, with different sources providing variable dates between 1780 and 1800 (though at least one source provides a date of 1750).
Ownership of the mine changed hands a number of times: in 1840 the lease was granted to "messers Hutchinson and Lamb under Cuthbert Ellison" whilst by the time of the colliery closure, ownership appears to have been transferred to Heworth Coal Company Ltd.
in 1862, legislation
was passed which required all collieries have two main exits. As a result, Sheriff Hill Colliery operated two main shafts- Fanny Pit and Isabella Pit.
Fanny Pit was situated just off the main turnpike road at the crest of Sheriff Hill and alongside a small wooded area marked Fanny Pit Plantation. The shaft was 535 feet (163.1 m) above sea level and plumbed a depth of 804 feet (245.1 m) (as of 1894). Isabella, on the other hand, was slightly shallower with a total shaft depth of 738 feet (224.9 m) (as of 1894).
Contemporary evidence provides that the operation of the colliery ran thus:
On 19 July 1819, an explosion tore through the colliery killing 35 men. It was reported that:
In 1821, pitman John Wilson was rather more fortunate:
With safety such as issue, failure to adhere to safety standards saw workers given severe punishments. In June 1824, pitmen Timothy Forster and John Miller were ‘committed to hard labour in the House of Correction in Durham’ after removing the top of their Davy safety lamps whilst working in the pit. It was reported that "similar acts of carelessness are so frequently committed, to the imminent risk of the lives of the colliers, that we understand the coal-owners are determined to punish every such act in future with the utmost rigour.”
had to be re-routed to avoid it. Pitmen marched through the villages of Sheriff Hill
and Low Fell
carrying a banner depicting the colliery owners as rats, taking the bread from the hungry mouths of the workers.
One year later, the miners' grievances were so voluble that they were "forcibly ejected from the colliery". The response of the pitmen was sufficiently violent that soldiers from the Newcastle barracks were called to deal with the dispute The colliery owners called in replacement workers from Wales, but when these men were met on friendly terms by the ejected miners and their families (camped on Church Road, Sheriff Hill
) immediately prior to their arrvial at the colliery, many chose to join the camp rather than replace local pitmen. The dispute ended when the colliery owners made numerous concessions so that the majority of the pitmen returned to work, although the strike organisers were deemed 'no longer employable'.
Gateshead Fell
Gateshead Fell was a district in County Durham, England. It was located on the immediate border of the town of Gateshead, 2.3 miles from the city of Newcastle upon Tyne...
, County Durham
County Durham
County Durham is a ceremonial county and unitary district in north east England. The county town is Durham. The largest settlement in the ceremonial county is the town of Darlington...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The Colliery operated two main shafts and provided employment to the residents of Sheriff Hill
Sheriff Hill
Sheriff Hill is a settlement situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. It is bordered by the villages of High Fell and Deckham to the North, Beacon Lough to the South, Windy Nook and Carr Hill to the East and Low Fell to the West...
, a village formed by the enclosure of Gateshead Fell
Gateshead Fell
Gateshead Fell was a district in County Durham, England. It was located on the immediate border of the town of Gateshead, 2.3 miles from the city of Newcastle upon Tyne...
, after it's opening in 1793. The pit suffered major accidents which resulted in the deaths of workers and was also the subject of a protracted strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
in 1834. The colliery closed in 1926.
Opening and ownership
Sheriff Hill Colliery was situated at the summit of Gateshead FellGateshead Fell
Gateshead Fell was a district in County Durham, England. It was located on the immediate border of the town of Gateshead, 2.3 miles from the city of Newcastle upon Tyne...
(now the boundary between Sheriff Hill
Sheriff Hill
Sheriff Hill is a settlement situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. It is bordered by the villages of High Fell and Deckham to the North, Beacon Lough to the South, Windy Nook and Carr Hill to the East and Low Fell to the West...
and Low Fell
Low Fell
Low Fell is a fell in the English Lake District. It overlooks the lake of Loweswater to the south and to the north is bordered by its neighbour Fellbarrow. It is usually climbed from the villages of Loweswater or Thackthwaite. The fell is largely occupied by grassed enclosures, although there are...
) approximately 2 3/4 miles from Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. The exact date of opening is not known, with different sources providing variable dates between 1780 and 1800 (though at least one source provides a date of 1750).
Ownership of the mine changed hands a number of times: in 1840 the lease was granted to "messers Hutchinson and Lamb under Cuthbert Ellison" whilst by the time of the colliery closure, ownership appears to have been transferred to Heworth Coal Company Ltd.
Operation
As a result of the Hartley Colliery DisasterHartley Colliery Disaster
The Hartley Colliery Disaster was a disastrous mining accident in Northumberland, England in 1862 in which 220 lives were lost. - Cause :In an age when methane or coal dust and firedamp explosions were common, the tragedy at Hartley Colliery, Northumberland, England was different because it was...
in 1862, legislation
Legislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
was passed which required all collieries have two main exits. As a result, Sheriff Hill Colliery operated two main shafts- Fanny Pit and Isabella Pit.
Fanny Pit was situated just off the main turnpike road at the crest of Sheriff Hill and alongside a small wooded area marked Fanny Pit Plantation. The shaft was 535 feet (163.1 m) above sea level and plumbed a depth of 804 feet (245.1 m) (as of 1894). Isabella, on the other hand, was slightly shallower with a total shaft depth of 738 feet (224.9 m) (as of 1894).
Contemporary evidence provides that the operation of the colliery ran thus:
The coals are drawn at two shafts by an engine of about 30 horses' power, which raises three corves at once. Another engine, of the same power, is employed in pumping the water to a height of 30 fathoms from the bottom, where it is discharged into a drift of about 1¼ mile in length, and is finally drawn out by an engine at the Low Fell. The waggon-way from the Isabella Pit to the Tyne is about 3 miles in length, and the waggons are transmitted along it chiefly by means of inclined planes.>
Major incidents
The colliery suffered a number of incidents which resulted in fatalities. These include an explosion on 27 December 1793 which resulted in fourteen deaths. Another explosion, on 27 June 1815, saw a further eleven fatalities. Less than six months later, on 11 December 1815, a fire claimed five lives.On 19 July 1819, an explosion tore through the colliery killing 35 men. It was reported that:
“On Tuesday morning last, owing, it is reported, to some neglect or mismanagement regarding the safety-lamps in the Sheriff-hill pit, at Gateshead, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, a dreadful explosion took place, by which nearly 40 persons have lost their lives. Had the accident happened and hour later, it is said about 100 persons would have perished. Eighteen of the unhappy sufferers have been interred in Gateshead church-yard, and 14 in the chapel-yard ; the remaining bodies have either given to their respective friends, or are not yet taken out of the pit.
Amongst the poor unfortunates, were three boys from Whitehaven, who had been taken there by their mother, and obtained work, but were soon after dismissed ; their parent subsequently appealed to those in management, and again obtained employment for her children, just in time to share the melancholy fate that has befallen their fellow-sufferers. The same pit, we believe, exploded about four years ago, when considerable damage was done”
In 1821, pitman John Wilson was rather more fortunate:
“Early on the morning of Tuesday week, some men belonging to Sheriff-hill Colliery, Northumberland, were waiting the arrival of the gin-horse to go down into the pit. Owing to the cleaning of the boiler, the regular engine rope was not in a working state at the moment; but about 20 fathoms of it, with the chain, were hanging into the shaft. One of the men, John Wilson, having, in the dark, gone incautiously too near the bridge, fell in. Repeated cries from within the shaft at last roused the attention of the other men, who, on repairing to the spot with a light, were told by him that he had fallen into the pit, and was then hanging by the rope.
As soon as the alarm would allow them to take measures for his preservation, they proceeded to adjust the gin-rope — a work that occupied not less than 15 minutes, from their having to discharge it on one pulley and place it upon another. After fixing on a corf, one of them wished to descend in it to his assistance, but this Wilson forbade them to do so. The corf was now let down gently till it came under his feet ; he then freed himself from the engine rope, and being seated in the corf, was drawn slowly to bank, in a state of indescribable trepidation. He was, however, able, with the assistance of another man, to walk upwards of a mile to his own house, which on entering, he threw himself upon his knees, and poured out his fervent thanks to God for his deliverance. No sooner was this done than, overpowered by the dreadful conflict of his feelings, he fainted.
Some time elapsed before he recovered tolerable composure, and even still when the subject is recurred to, his agitation is extreme. Being questioned minutely, he said he had gone to the brink of the shaft to ascertain whether his comrade was calling upon him from below, and being deceived by a glimmering of light through a crevice in the brattice partition, his feet slipped. He was conscious at the moment he dropt in, but has no recollection whatever of how or when he caught hold of the engine rope. The first thing he was sensible of was the rope sliding in his breast, and next its stripping his left hand, which he held mainly on, and also with the legs and feet. He had in his right hand a small stick, of which he kept firm possession all the time, and brought it up with him. There was a chasm of 450 feet perpendicular depth yawning beneath”.
With safety such as issue, failure to adhere to safety standards saw workers given severe punishments. In June 1824, pitmen Timothy Forster and John Miller were ‘committed to hard labour in the House of Correction in Durham’ after removing the top of their Davy safety lamps whilst working in the pit. It was reported that "similar acts of carelessness are so frequently committed, to the imminent risk of the lives of the colliers, that we understand the coal-owners are determined to punish every such act in future with the utmost rigour.”
Strikes of 1832 and 1833
In light of the recurring fatalities, general poor working conditions and low levels of pay, the miners at Sheriff Hill Colliery are credited with undertaking one of the earliest large-sclae industrial actions in England Such was the scale of the disorder that the traditional Sheriff's March on Gateshead FellGateshead Fell
Gateshead Fell was a district in County Durham, England. It was located on the immediate border of the town of Gateshead, 2.3 miles from the city of Newcastle upon Tyne...
had to be re-routed to avoid it. Pitmen marched through the villages of Sheriff Hill
Sheriff Hill
Sheriff Hill is a settlement situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. It is bordered by the villages of High Fell and Deckham to the North, Beacon Lough to the South, Windy Nook and Carr Hill to the East and Low Fell to the West...
and Low Fell
Low Fell
Low Fell is a fell in the English Lake District. It overlooks the lake of Loweswater to the south and to the north is bordered by its neighbour Fellbarrow. It is usually climbed from the villages of Loweswater or Thackthwaite. The fell is largely occupied by grassed enclosures, although there are...
carrying a banner depicting the colliery owners as rats, taking the bread from the hungry mouths of the workers.
One year later, the miners' grievances were so voluble that they were "forcibly ejected from the colliery". The response of the pitmen was sufficiently violent that soldiers from the Newcastle barracks were called to deal with the dispute The colliery owners called in replacement workers from Wales, but when these men were met on friendly terms by the ejected miners and their families (camped on Church Road, Sheriff Hill
Sheriff Hill
Sheriff Hill is a settlement situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. It is bordered by the villages of High Fell and Deckham to the North, Beacon Lough to the South, Windy Nook and Carr Hill to the East and Low Fell to the West...
) immediately prior to their arrvial at the colliery, many chose to join the camp rather than replace local pitmen. The dispute ended when the colliery owners made numerous concessions so that the majority of the pitmen returned to work, although the strike organisers were deemed 'no longer employable'.
Closure
The exact date of closure is unknown and one source suggests that the colliery closed before 1895. However, a Gateshead Council photograph claims to show pitmen from Sheriff Hill Colliery in 1924.External links
- Sheriff Hill Colliery at Durham Mining Museum http://www.dmm.org.uk/colliery/s020.htm