Chaytor's Haugh Colliery

1753, 02 Jun - A machine was going at this time at a colliery at Chartershaugh, in the county of Durham, belonging to William Peareth, esq., invented by Michael Menzies, esq., (for which he had obtained an act of parliament to secure the property to himself) by which coals were drawn up, not by the power of horses, but by the descent of a bucket full of water, to a weight superior to that of the coals dawn up, lifting a corf of above 600lb. weight out of a pit 50 fathoms deep in two minutes.

1756, 11 Aug - About two o’clock in the morning, a dreadful accident happened at Chartershaugh colliery, on the river Wear. The foul air in one of the pits ignited, by which four men were instantly killed and torn to pieces. The explosion was so violent, that a corf full of coals was blown up the shaft from a depth of 80 fathoms into the open air, and a vast quantity of coal dust and rubbish was thrown to a great distance, discolouring the surface of the ground round about. The explosion was so loud as to be heard by people in their beds two miles off, rumbling like thunder, or the discharge of many cannon. Had it happened an hour later, the whole of the workmen would have been in the mine, consequently the destruction of human life would have been dreadful.

1771, Nov 17 - The collieries at North Biddick, Chartershaugh, and Low Lambton, on the Wear, were all filled with water, and upwards of thirty horses in the several workings drowned. Several wagons, with horses, and a great quantity of coals were swept off, and the fire engines belonging to the two former collieries entirely destroyed.

1845 - Chartershaugh Colliery was re-opened after having lain idle since being drowned out by the great flood on the River Wear in 1771.

1932, 27 Feb - Main, Maudlin, Low Main, Hutton seams abandoned

Ashley, Ralph, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: January 6th 1779 [More information ...]

Ashley, Walter (jnr), 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: December 9th [More information ...]

Brown, George, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: January 6th 1779 [More information ...]

Brown, Thomas, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: January 4th 1779 [More information ...]

Coulson, Thomas, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: December 9th [More information ...]

Forster, Robert, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: December 9th [More information ...]

Gibbons, Anthony, 30 May 1870, aged 39, Shaftman, breakage of pulley in drawing pumps

Henderson, William, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: January 6th 1779 [More information ...]

Hobson, Francis, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: January 4th 1779 [More information ...]

How, David, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: December 9th [More information ...]

Kirtley, John (jnr), 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: December 9th [More information ...]

Mason, Ralph, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: December 9th [More information ...]

Peal, John, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: December 9th [More information ...]

Taylor, William, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: January 6th 1779 [More information ...]

Thompson, Joseph, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: January 5th 1779 [More information ...]

Thompson, Marshall, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: January 6th 1779 [More information ...]

Woolfe, Joseph, 08 Dec 1778, killed in the 1778 explosion, Buried: January 6th 1779 [More information ...]