	East Castle Colliery	Index	East Castle Colliery

East Castle Colliery

Location:

Annfield Plain
9½ miles [15 km] NW of Durham

Map Ref:

(Sheet 88) NZ151519, 54° 51' 42" N, 1° 45' 53" W

Maps:

1928 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide

Opened:

Closed:

Owners:

1860s - Bainbridge, Kissop & Co.

1880s - C. Bainbridge & Co.

1880s - East Castle Coal & Coke Co.

1890s - East Pontop Coal Co. Ltd.

Output:

1882 - Coal.

1883 - Coal.

1884 - Coal.

1888 - Coal.

1890 - Coal.

1894 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1896 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1900 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1902 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1905 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1910 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

1915 - Coal: Coking, Gas.

Employment:

Year	Total	Below	Above
1894	51	12	39
1896	174	135	39
1900	178	135	43
1902	154	117	37
1905	132	103	29
1910	166	145	21
1915	85	68	17

Colliery Management (prior to 1970)

Seams Worked:

1905 - Brass Thill, Five Quarter, Shield Row

1910 - Brass Thill, Five Quarter, Shield Row

1915 - Brass Thill, Five Quarter, Shield Row

Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for East Castle Colliery

Notes:

1917 - Shield Row, Five Quarter, Brass Thill seams abandoned

Description

East Castle Colliery, situated about one mile south of Dipton, was reopened in 1868, and is now worked by the East Pontop Coal Company, Lim., working the Shield Row, 7½ fathoms, 6 feet thick ; the Brass Thill and Five Quarter, at a depth of 30 fathoms, 5 feet 8 inches each, divided by a 2 feet band of blue shale. There are also 74 coke ovens, part of which only are in operation. The annual output amounts to 100,000 tons, and gives employment to 163 men any boys.

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!

						Barron, Miles, 03 Dec 1881, aged 21, Waggonman, crushed by truck
						Bellerby, Thomas, 21 Aug 1878, aged 35, Horse Driver, run over by his cart after the horse bolted
						Coleman, Frederick, 17 Mar 1959, (accident: 16 Mar 1959), aged 36, died by rubble falling and crushing him; left a widow and eight children
						Dent, George, 26 Dec 1894, 9:00 a.m., 3rd hour of shift, aged 37, Waggonman, Deceased had hooked his horses on and got on the buffer, and then discovered that the hook had not got a good hold. He leaned forward to press against it with his hand to keep it in position, when it slipped off the crook, and he fell forward off the buffer in front of the waggon wheels [Inspection made & inquest attended]
						Foster, Terence, 15 Jul 1912, aged 14, Pony Driver, deceased was sitting on limbers but had not started with his first full set, when some side stone came over and knocked two props from underneath baulks, which caused a fall of roof; he was killed instantly
						Gibson, William, 22 Jul 1880, aged 62, Shifter, killed by a fall of stone
						Jackson, James, 30 Mar 1874, aged 47, Deputy, asphyxiated by carbonic acid gas
						Kilburn, Joseph, 18 Jun 1870, aged 28, Deputy, killed by a fall of stone
						McOwen, James, 11 Apr 1866, aged 27, was working at a judd when it came down on him and caused severe internal injuries; he only lived for 2 hours after the accident
						Rudd, John, 26 Aug 1898, aged 41, Deputy, The deceased had been drawing timber out of an old place, and as he was preparing to take out the last prop a stone fell on him [Inspection made & inquest attended]
						Stobbs, Henry, 05 May 1882, aged 66, Furnaceman, crushed by tubs on engine plane
						Taylor, Christopher, 18 Jul 1899, aged 31, Hewer, While the deceased was hewing, a large circular stone suddenly fell from a slippery parting, two or three props being canted out by the fall. The deputy considered the place safe when he left it a short time previously [Inspection made & inquest attended], Buried: Leadgate
						Westlake, William, 28 May 1900, aged 68, Shifter, While deceased was engaged in removing one of four props from under a balk, a stone which he and his marrow had previously examined and considered safe fell from between two other balks. [Inspection made & inquest attended]

						13 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 .

The following unnamed fatalities are listed in the Mines Inspectors Reports, once again this collection is not complete!

Date							Inspectors Remarks
24 Jun 1865	–	–	–	1	–	1	fall of coal

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of East Castle Colliery

list of collieries/pits etc. near to East Castle Colliery

Credits

Sources:

1870 Mines Inspectors Report (C 456) Where to find this report
1874 Mines Inspectors Report (C 1216) Where to find this report
1880 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1880 Mines Inspectors Report (C 2903) Where to find this report
1881 Mines Inspectors Report (C 3241)
1881 Mines Inspectors Report (C 3241), Newcastle District by James Willis, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
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
1894 Mines Inspectors Report (C 7667), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. L. Hedley, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1896 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, also available online at Peak District Mines Historical Society Ltd
1898 Mines Inspectors Report (C 9264), Newcastle District (No. 3) by J. L. Hedley, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1899 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 134), Newcastle District (No. 3) by John L. Hedley, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1900 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1900 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 536), Newcastle District (No. 3) by John L. Hedley, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1902 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1905 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1909 List of Mines - from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
1910 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1912 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 6983), Newcastle District (No. 2) by J. B. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1915 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
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
Mineral Statistics for 1884 - Government report from the Mines Department (C 4430), published in 1885 — includes List of Mines and Openworks