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	Gosforth Colliery	Index	Gosforth Colliery

Location:	Gosforth 3 miles [5 km] N of Newcastle
Map Ref:	(Sheet 88) NZ254684, 55° 0' 34" N, 1° 36' 10" W
Maps:	1860s map detailed map from the Ordnance Survey
	1898 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
Opened:	1825
Closed:
Sinking Started:	1825
Pits:	Brandling Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ254676
	Shaft details for Brandling Pit
	East Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ254682, opened: 1827, sinking: 1827
	Shaft details for East Pit
	Fanny Pit
	West Pit, locn: (Sheet 88) NZ254682, opened: 1827, sinking: 1827
	Shaft details for West Pit
Owners:	1825 - Rev. R. H. Brandling
	1850s - Executors of Messrs. Brandling
	1860s - Bowes, Hutt & Co.
	1880s - John Bowes & Partners
Output:	1855 - Coal.
	1860 - Coal.
	1865 - Coal.
	1882 - Coal.
Employment:	1854 - 0 [Working]
	Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Gosforth Colliery
Notes:	1884 - Abandoned

Description

This colliery is situated about 3 miles north from Newcastle, and on the west bank of a romantic dean, through which the Ouse Burn winds its way to the Tyne. The sinking was commenced in 1825; and coal was won on Saturday, January 31, 1829. Great expense was incurred in this undertaking, from circumstances which have given a peculiar character to the pit. The High Main coal was come to at 25 fathoms below the surface; but, near it, the seam was thrown down in an inclined direction, by a dyke, to the depth of 1100 or 1200 feet. Hence, the quality of the coal, where it was originally met with, was so deteriorated by the proximity of the dyke, that it was necessary to sink the shaft perpendicularly to the depth of 181 fathoms, in order to come at the level of the lower range of the seam. In this operation, many of the succeeding seams of coal were passed, all more or less shattered by the dyke, and singularly placed at a higher level than the High Main, which, in a geological point of view, they underlie. On reaching the necessary depth, a horizontal drift, 700 yards long, was worked through the face of the dyke to the seam of coal, a little above its junction with the dyke. A great part of the above excavations was cut through solid rock.

The seam of coal, where it was first met with, had a rise of nearly 12 inches in a yard, down which the corves are conveyed on self-acting inclined planes; but, further on, the workings gradually become more level. The seam, which is of the first quality of Tyne coals, averages from 4 to 4½ feet thick; and the workings are not much incommoded with foul air. The coal on the south side has been worked out at a former period. To expedite the drawing of the corves, there are two shafts, contiguous to each other, each having a machine of 50-horse power; besides which there is a pumping-engine of 150 horse power. The waggon-way to the Tyne is about 3½ miles in extent; and the waggons are drawn thither principally by fixed engines.

The colliery is the property of the Rev. R. H. Brandling. The coals are called, in the London market, "Gosforth Wallsend."

Views of the Collieries (1844)

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!

						Brewis, Richard, 09 Oct 1876, aged 23, Enginewright, fell a distance of 40 fathoms from a scaffold in back shaft, Buried: St. Nicholas Churchyard, Gosforth [More information ...]
						Chambers, Michael, 15 Dec 1860, run over by waggons
						Cook, -, 25 Jan 1847, killed by a fall of stone [More information ...]
						Crosby, Francis, 02 Dec 1874, (accident: 14 Oct 1874), Hewer, fall of ramble stone
						Dees, John, 14 Jun 1849, aged 53, Mason, explosion of gas, Buried: St. Nicholas Churchyard, Gosforth [More information ...]
						Forster, Thomas, 14 Jun 1849, aged 54, Sinker, explosion of gas, Buried: St. Nicholas Churchyard, Gosforth [More information ...]
						Hepple, -, 16 Dec 1865, Miner
						Heron, M., 25 Jan 1847, killed by a fall of stone [More information ...]
						Lawson, John, 14 Jun 1849, aged 32, Miner, explosion of gas, Buried: St. Nicholas Churchyard, Gosforth [More information ...]
						Miller, Thomas, 11 Oct 1874, aged 27, Fireman, fell off pit heap, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 14 Oct 1874 {NBI}
						Ord, John, 28 May 1873, aged 74, Shifter, crushed by tubs
						Pattison, George, 08 Sep 1873, aged 27, Labourer, run over by waggon
						Peel, William, 27 Aug 1851, killed by a fall of stone
						Pringle, Thomas, 31 Dec 1872, aged 12, Putters Helper, killed by a fall of coal
						Richardson, John, 14 Jan 1862, killed while firing a shot
						Ridley, -, 25 Jan 1847, killed by a fall of stone [More information ...]
						Sams, Stephen, 20 Sep 1875, aged 26, Enginewright, crushed by cage while removing a baulk
						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 web site have been kindly provided by Ray Ditchburn from his research into fatalities in Northumberland and are marked with .

  more information on some of the fatalities shown above

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Date							Inspectors Remarks
03 Sep 1851	–	–	–	–	1	1	Firing a shot
31 Dec 1851	–	–	1	–	–	1
08 Dec 1852	–	–	–	1	–	1
13 Jun 1853	–	–	–	1	–	1
25 Sep 1856	–	–	–	–	1	1	Crushed by tubs
24 Jun 1858	–	–	–	1	–	1	fall of stone
22 Oct 1861	–	–	–	1	–	1	fall of coal
02 Feb 1863	–	–	–	–	1	1	crush of tubs
12 Apr 1864	–	–	–	–	1	1	crush of tubs, inclined plane
15 Jul 1864	–	–	–	–	1	1	crush of tubs

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

  a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Gosforth Colliery

  list of collieries/pits etc. near to Gosforth Colliery

Gallery Images:

Credits

Sources:

Pictures:

Related Links:

	On this site
	Newspaper articles
	Views of the Collieries in the Counties of Northumberland and Durham by T. H. Hair (1844) — Gosforth Colliery
	Evidence given to the 1842 Children's Employment Commission
	Pictures in the Gallery section for Gosforth Colliery

Further Research:

  Research Notes for Gosforth Colliery