	Bewicke Main Colliery	Index	Bewicke Main Colliery

Bewicke Main Colliery

Location:

Birtley
5 miles [8 km] S of Newcastle

Map Ref:

(Sheet 88) NZ253561, 54° 53' 58" N, 1° 36' 19" W

Maps:

1897 map detailed map from the Ordnance Survey

1919 map detailed map from the Ordnance Survey

1928 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide

1939 map detailed map from the Ordnance Survey

Opened:

1862

Closed:

1932

Pits:

Upcast Shaft, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ251560, sinking: Feb 1868

Shaft details for Upcast Shaft

Owners:

1860s - Hunt, Perkins & Co.

1880s - E. M. Perkins & Partners

1890s - Charles Perkins & Partners

1910s - Birtley Iron Co.

1920s - Pelaw Main Collieries Co.

1920s - Pelaw Main Collieries Co. Ltd.

Output:

1882 - Coal.

1883 - Coal. Fireclay.

1888 - Coal. Fireclay.

1890 - Coal. Fireclay.

1894 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1896 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1900 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1902 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1905 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1910 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1915 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1921 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1923 - Coal: Gas, Household.

1924 - Coal: Gas, Household.

1925 - Coal: Gas, Household.

1927 - Coal: Gas, Household, Steam.

1929 - Coal: Gas, Household, Manufacturing.

1930 - Coal: Gas, Household, Manufacturing.

Employment:

Year	Total	Below	Above
1894	260	213	47
1896	260	214	46
1900	226	188	38
1902	268	232	36
1905	249	200	49
1910	330	268	62
1915	291	226	65
1921	360	268	92
1923	246	179	67
1924	227	161	66
1925	235	159	76
1925	Temporarily closed 19/06/25
1927	245	186	59
1929	341	264	77
1930	229	173	56

Colliery Management (prior to 1970)

Seams Worked:

1905 - Hutton, Low Main, Six Quarter

1910 - Hutton, Low Main, Six Quarter

1915 - Hutton, Low Main

1921 - Hutton, Low Main

1923 - Hutton, Low Main

1924 - Hutton, Low Main

1925 - Hutton, Low Main [Temporarily closed 19/06/25]

1927 - Hutton, Low Main

1929 - Hutton, Low Main

1930 - Hutton, Low Main

Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Bewicke Main Colliery

Notes:

1867 - Bewicke Main Colliery upcast shaft sunk from the surface to the Hutton Seam, February.

1931, 26 Jan - Six Quarter seam abandoned

1932, 06 May - Low Main, Hutton seams abandoned

Current Status - Colliery site now a caravan park

Description

The coal mining industry, carried on at the Betty and Shop pits of the Team Colliery, gives employment to 860 hands, who are engaged in working five seams. The Yard seam, 6 feet thick, is met with at a depth of 42 fathoms ; the Maudlin, 4 feet 6 inches, is 54 fathoms ; the Low Main, 3 feet 2 inches, 64 fathoms ; the Hutton, 5 feet, is 71 fathoms ; and Beaumont, which is 4 feet thick, is 97 fathoms deep. From these seams is obtained an output of over 1100 tons per day. This industry has been carried on continuously from the year 1703, and is now worked by Messrs. Charles Perkins and Partners. The Bewick Main Colliery is worked by the same company, is about 36 fathoms to the Hutton seam, employing about 300 men and boys, having a daily output of 300 tons. The Hutton and Low Main are the only seams worked.

Colliery School, Bewick Main, was erected by the Birtley Iron Company, in 1873, for 120 children ; the average attendance is 100. The schoolroom is used by the Primitive Methodists on Sundays.

Whellan's 1894 Directory of County Durham

Disasters (5 or more killed)

None Found

Names of those killed at this colliery

Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!

						Barker, J., 19 Dec 1866, aged 10
						Cawson, Armstrong, 15 Aug 1906, aged 15, Token Boy, crushed by tubs [More information ...]
						Godfrey, Earnest Waring, 05 Jun 1927, aged 45
						Grundy, John, 15 Nov 1880, aged 21, Hewer, crushed by tubs on inclined plane
						Irwin, George, 29 Dec 1869, aged 36, Weighman, explosion of a boiler [More information ...]
						Kirk, William, 06 Aug 1904, aged 52, Hewer, Deceased worked alone as a hewer, and he was found by the deputy sitting on his cracket murmuring incoherently. The deputy went for assistance, and when he returned deceased had fallen over and cut his head slightly, He was taken to the surface, but died in a few hours. An inquest was held after a post-mortem examination, when medical evidence showed that death was caused by cerebral haemorrhage due to Bright's disease. The Local Inspectors examined the place and reported "found the timber and the place satisfactory."
						Lumley, Robert, 19 Aug 1902, aged 26, Hewer, at face in Low Main seam ; there was a slip and the stone had canted a prop ; when examined four hours before by the deputy the place appeared safe
						MacDonald, James, 11 Mar 1880, aged 13, Driver, crushed by tubs on rolleyway
						Makepeace, John, 16 Jun 1885, aged 36, Keeker, uncoupling waggons whilst being drawn out from under screens
						Makepeace, John, 05 May 1897, aged 53, Hewer, A large stone fell on him from three distinct slips in the shape of a triangle. The deputy was in fifteen minutes before and examined the place carefully, leaving it in what he considered in safe working condition [Inspection made & inquest attended]
						Mather, Robert, 06 Apr 1903, (accident: 03 Mar 1903), aged 30, Hewer, Deceased when hewing in the Hutton seam on March 3, which is overlaid by ramble, a soft stone that often falls even where the timber is very close; a piece of this stone is supposed to have fallen and cut his knee. He did not report any accident on that day, but next day his wife informed the deputy that her husband "had got a bat on the knee by a small piece of stone." Blood poisoning supervened followed by septic pneumonia and septic meningitis which caused his death. The jury found he had died from pneumonia derived from injuries received in the pit.
						Miller, Sam, 16 Nov 1927, aged 14, Driver, crushed by tubs [More information ...]
						Ranson, George, 29 Dec 1869, aged 18, Engineman, explosion of a boiler [More information ...]
						Saynor, George, 18 Mar 1897, aged 15, Driver, He was probably trying to get on a full set of tubs, and had fallen under the front tub. There was no evidence to show how it happened [Inspection made & inquest attended]
						Walker, David, 13 Mar 1913, aged 38, Deputy, deceased was drawing a jud which was coming on to weight badly when the roof canted out some pairs of gears behind him and he was buried and killed by the fall; he should not have attempted to draw the timber when it was getting dangerous
						Walker, Stephen, 02 Jul 1898, aged 61, Shifter, The deceased was engaged in cleaning a water-level, and in doing so had evidently undermined a prop which was supporting a balk, the result being that a stone fell away at a "slip" in the roof [Inspection made & inquest attended]
						Walton, John, 26 May 1919, aged 29, Stoneman, killed by a fall of stone

						17 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 page have been kindly provided by Ian Winstanley of the Coal Mining History Resource Centre (CMHRC) and are marked with . The CMHRC is available here.

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 .

more information on some of the fatalities shown above

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Bewicke Main Colliery

list of collieries/pits etc. near to Bewicke Main Colliery

Gallery Images:

Credits

Sources:

1869 Mines Inspectors Report (C 124), Northumberland, North Durham and Cumberland District by George William Southern, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1880 Mines Inspectors Report (C 2903) Where to find this report
1881 Mines Inspectors Report (C 3241)
1885 Mines Inspectors Report (C 4760) Where to find this report
1888 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1890 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1894 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
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), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. L. Hedley, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1898 Mines Inspectors Report (C 9264), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. L. Hedley, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1900 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1902 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1902 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 1590), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1903 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 2119), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1904 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 2506), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1905 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1906 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 3449), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1909 List of Mines - from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
1910 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1913 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 7439), Northern Division (No. 2) by J. R. R. Wilson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1915 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1919 List of Mines - from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
1921 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1923 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1924 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1925 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1927 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1927 Mines Inspectors Report
1929 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1930 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
An Account of the strata of Northumberland & Durham as proved by Borings & Sinkings, Volume A-B, published by the North of England Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers, 1878
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.
Mineral Statistics for 1869 (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and of the Museum of Practical Geology), compiled by Robert Hunt, F.R.S.
Mineral Statistics for 1883 - Government report from the Mines Department (C 4058), published in 1884 — includes List of Mines and Mineral Works
Victoria History of the Counties of England – Durham. Published in three volumes in 1907.

Pictures:

Further Research:

Research Notes for Bewicke Main Colliery

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