	Chester South Moor Colliery	Index	Chester South Moor Colliery

Chester South Moor Colliery

also known as Chester Moor Colliery

Location:

Chester Moor
4½ miles [7 km] NNW of Durham

Map Ref:

(Sheet 88) NZ268494, 54° 50' 19" N, 1° 34' 58" W

Maps:

1898 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide

1928 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide

1951 map from the Guide to the Coalfields (Colliery Guardian)

Opened:

1889

Closed:

Oct 1967

Pits:

Fan Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ269493, opened: 10 Nov 1888

Shaft details for Fan Pit

South Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ269493

Shaft details for Chester South Moor Colliery

Owners:

1860s - Sowerby, Phillips & Co.

1880s - Messrs. Thiedemann & Wallis

1880s - Priestman Collieries Ltd.

1947 - National Coal Board (N.C.B.)

Output:

1873 - Coal.

1888 - Coal.

1894 - Coal: Gas.

1896 - Coal: Gas.

1900 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1902 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1905 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1910 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1915 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1921 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1925 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1930 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1935 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1947 - Coal: Coking, Gas, Manufacturing, Steam. (145,000 tons)

1950 - Coal: Coking, Household, Steam.

1955 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1960 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1964 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1965 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

1967 - Coal: Gas, Steam.

Employment:

Year	Total	Below	Above
1883	359	359
1894	306	257	49
1896	302	248	54
1900	286	220	66
1902	285	222	63
1905	333	262	71
1910	459	381	78
1915	382	295	87
1921	397	330	67
1925	320	232	88
1930	483	396	87
1935	702	597	105
1940	714	600	114
1945	695	572	123
1947	620	520	100
1950	751	595	156
1955	783	580	203
1960	739	573	166
1964	639	520	119
1965	198	167	31
1967	198	167	31

NCB Employment Figures

Colliery Management (prior to 1970)

Seams Worked:

1905 - Brass Thill, Busty, Harvey, Hutton

1910 - Brass Thill, Busty, Hutton

1915 - Brass Thill, Busty, Hutton

1921 - Brass Thill, Busty, Hutton

1925 - Busty, Low Main

1930 - Busty, Low Main

1935 - Brass Thill, Busty, Low Main

1950 - Brass Thill, Busty, Hutton, Low Main, Main, Tilley

1955 - Brass Thill, Busty, Hutton, Low Main, Main, Tilley

1960 - Brass Thill, Hutton, Main, Tilley

1964 - Brass Thill, Hutton, Main Coal, Tilley

1965 - Hutton, Tilley

1967 - Hutton

Notes:

1887 - Sunk the Chester South Moor Fan Pit, Waldridge Colliery, from the surface to the Busty Bank Seam.

1889 - Sinking at Chester South Moor Colliery from the Hutton to the Busty.

Miscellaneous Notes and Incidents for Chester South Moor Colliery

Description

Chester Moor is another colliery village, pleasantly situated on the Durham road, about two miles south of Chester-le-Street, and four and a half north of Durham. Here is the Chester Moor colliery, worked by Messrs. Thiedemann & Wallis, and giving employment to over 230 men and boys. The Hutton seam, 4 feet thick, is being wrought at a depth of 40 fathoms, giving an average daily output of about 700 tons.

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!

						Bambrough, William, 02 Nov 1922, aged 57, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone
						Carr, James, 29 Apr 1910, aged 39, Deputy [More information ...]
						Chambers, Henry, 14 Feb 1882, aged 10, [School boy], while trespassing on the railway at Chester South Moor Colliery was run over by a locomotive engine and killed
						Charlton, William, 12 Jun 1896, aged 14, Driver, He was waiting for another driver bringing a set of full tubs out but he allowed them to run amain, and Charlton in attempting to stop them got caught and was found quite dead under the first tub, Buried: Ropery Lane Cemetery, Chester-le-Street [More information ...]
						Clarke, Thomas, 11 May 1925, aged 63, Hewer, he was sitting down to his bait when he collapsed and died
						Clarkson, John Thomas, 30 Dec 1938, (accident: 13 Dec 1938), aged 51, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone, Buried: Ropery Lane Cemetery, Chester-le-Street
						Coltman, Guy, 25 May 1905, aged 51, Screener, when attempting to pass between two moving trucks, he was caught between the buffers and so crushed as to die within an hour [More information ...]
						Dawson, William, 03 Feb 1899, aged 58, Shifter, He was preparing a place in the brokens, when a large stone, 6 feet by 4 feet by 9 inches thick, fell from the roof and killed him., Buried: Ropery Lane Cemetery, Chester-le-Street
						Docherty, W., 16 Aug 1942, (accident: 19 Dec 1938), aged 45, Cutter, killed by a fall of stone
						Forster, Norman, 01 Mar 1932, aged 35, Buried: Ropery Lane Cemetery, Chester-le-Street
						Harrison, Thomas, 04 Mar 1916, aged 16, Driver, killed through being crushed by a full tub, Buried: Ropery Lane Cemetery, Chester-le-Street
						Holdsworth, Thomas, 24 Feb 1875, aged 14, Driver, crushed by tubs
						Hutton, James Hodgson, 17 Jul 1939, (accident: 13 Jul 1939), aged 50, Waggonway Man, crushed by cage, address: Neil House, Chester Moor
						Leybourne, W., 15 Apr 1943, (accident: 14 Apr 1943), aged 59, Shifter, died from injuries received
						Pointing, Frederick, 01 May 1912, aged 44, Carter, he was engaged in conveying a load of long planks from the siding to the Colliery yard and was riding in the cart with them; he was trying to avoid a building with the planks, but one of the cart wheels went over some balks which were lying 10 feet from the building and the cart was overturned; he died about an hour later from internal injuries; it would have been wiser to have been leading the horse under such conditions
						Porritt, William Johnson, 28 Mar 1911, (accident: 24 Mar 1911), aged 22, Timberer after Coal Cutter, the deceased and two others were engaged with a bar coal cutting machine on a longwall face, and after cutting past a gateway they noticed a movement of the roof in the gateway; they decided to set some timber to support the roof but foolishly kept the machine running; while the deceased was stooping down preparatory to setting a prop, a stone 3½ inches thick, 3 feet long and 18 inches wide, fell from a slip in the roof and fractured his skull; the stone fell on to the back of one of the other men first and then slid on to Porritt's head; if it had not been for the noise made by the machine, possibly the stone might have given them some warning; he died four days later
						Robinson, Norman, 26 Mar 1940, aged 33, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone, Buried: Ropery Lane Cemetery, Chester-le-Street
						Robson, John, 18 May 1878, aged 12, Trapper, left his door (after being warned not to do so) and got on the limmers of a pony coming out-bye with a full tub, when his head was caught between the top of the tub and a plank, causing instant death
						Slater, John, 26 Jun 1942, aged 48, Cleaner, killed by a fall of stone, Buried: Ropery Lane Cemetery, Chester-le-Street
						Stephenson, George William, 28 Jun 1957, aged 40, Trainee Supervisor, killed by a fall of stone
						Wheatcroft, Joseph, 03 Jan 1922, aged 38, Hewer, killed by a fall of stone
						Wind, Robert, 24 Jan 1873, aged 35, Water Leader, supposed to have had a fit and fallen into water

						22 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 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 Chester South Moor Colliery

list of collieries/pits etc. near to Chester South Moor Colliery

Gallery Images:

Chester South Moor receiving the Production Champions Banner

Credits

Sources:

1873-4 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1873 Mines Inspectors Report (C. 1056), South Durham, Westmoreland, and Cleveland District by James Willis, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1875 Mines Inspectors Report (C. 1499), Durham by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1878 Mines Inspectors Report (C 2321), Durham District by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1880 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1881 Mines Inspectors Report (C 3241)
1882 Mines Inspectors Report (C 3621) 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
1896 Mines Inspectors Report (C 8450), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1899 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 134), Durham District (No. 4) by Ronald D. Bain, 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
1905 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1905 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 2910), Durham District (No. 4) by R. Donald Bain, 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
1910 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 5676), Durham District (No. 3) by A. D. Nicholson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1911 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 6237), Durham District (No. 3) by A. D. Nicholson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1912 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 6983), Durham District (No. 3) by A. D. Nicholson, 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
1925 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1930 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1935 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1940 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory published by Louis Cassier Co. Ltd.
1945 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1947 The Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory. Published by The Louis Cassier Co. Ltd., from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1950 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1955 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
1960 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
1964 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
1965 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
1967 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
An Account of the strata of Northumberland & Durham as proved by Borings & Sinkings, Volume C-E, published by the North of England Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers, 1881
Banners of the Durham Coalfield, Norman Emery, 1998, Sutton Publishing Ltd., ISBN 0-7509-1708-3
Contributions by members of the Public
Headstone(s) in Ropery Lane Cemetery, Chester-le-Street
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
Mineral Statistics for 1884 - Government report from the Mines Department (C 4430), published in 1885 — includes List of Mines and Openworks
Text kindly provided by Jim Grainger from his research into early newspapers (primarily the Durham Advertiser and Durham Chronicle).
Victoria History of the Counties of England – Durham. Published in three volumes in 1907.

Further Research:

Research Notes for Chester South Moor Colliery

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