| Meadows Pit | Index | Meadows Pit | ||
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| Location: | Rainton 4½ miles [7 km] NE of Durham |
| Map Ref: | (Sheet 88) NZ324477, 54° 49' 25" N, 1° 29' 43" W |
| Maps: |  1860s map detailed map from the Ordnance Survey |
| Opened: | 1824 |
| Closed: | 31 Dec 1896 |
| Sinking Started: | 01 Jun 1821 |
| Pits: | Shaft details for Meadows Pit |
| Owners: | 1850s - Lady F. A. Vane Londonderry |
| 1890s - Marquess of Londonderry | |
| Output: | 1888 - Coal. |
| 1894 - Coal: Gas, Household, Steam. | |
| Employment: | 1854 - 0 [Working] |
| 1894 - 362 (279 below, 83 surface) | |
| 1896 - 0 [Abandoned] | |
| Colliery Management (prior to 1970)
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| Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Meadows Pit |
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| Notes: | 1821, Jun 01 - The Meadows West Pit, West Rainton, was commenced, and reached the Hutton Seam, and finished sinking on 12 June, 1824. |
1896, 31 Dec - Five Quarter, High Main, Maudlin, Low Main seams abandoned - Mineral being unprofitable to work |
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1936 - Rainton Meadows Colliery, the shaft of which is to be reopened, is one of the old Londonderry group. The shaft is now connected by an underground drift with Houghton Colliery, and the purpose of reopening is to enable men working at Houghton to ride at Meadows and thus save time in getting to their working places, as Meadows coal is now being raised from Houghton Pit. |
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1960 - Meadows shaft of Houghton Colliery closed |
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| Miscellaneous Notes and Incidents for Meadows Pit |
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Description
At the Rainton Colliery, which is the property of the Marquis of Londonderry, there are three pits from which coal is raised, named the Adventure, Alexandrina, and Meadow pits, sunk in the years, 1817, 1824, and 1824 respectively. The seams worked are the Five Quarter, High Main, Maudlin, and Low Main, the Hutton seam being practically exhausted. The coals produced are Londonderry Wallsend, Pittington Wallsend, and Londonderry Primrose, for household purposes, and the Hartley for steam purposes. Number of stationary engines in use is 31 ; boilers, 38 ; number of men and boys employed, 1185 ; houses occupied by workmen, 835.
Whellan's 1894 Directory of County Durham
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Disasters (5 or more killed)
None Found
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Names of those killed at this colliery
Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!
 | Cardy, David, 28 May 1889, aged 36, Deputy, explosion of a charge of "roburite" ; he appears to have mismanaged the lighter and cap [More information ...] | |||||
| Dawson, Robert, 31 Dec 1891, 3:30 p.m., 10th hour of shift, aged 33, Putter, fall of roof at the flat he was putting to | |||||
|  | Hall, Thomas, 07 Aug 1848, aged 10, he was passing upon a waggon which conveys the tubs up an incline plane to the top of the pit heap, fell and alighted upon the sole-end of a waggon standing below, by which his head was so severely bruised that he died almost immediately | ||||
|  | Lee, W., 15 Sep 1836, aged 14, killed by a fall of stone in the Low Main seam (NEIMME Ref: Bud-48-4-57) | ||||
| | Rutherford, George, 15 Nov 1839, aged 17, Apprentice Engine Wright, he was killed by falling off a scaffold in the Meadows’ Engine Pit, he was standing on a scaffold with another man, examining the pump collarings and by some means slipped his feet and fell ; the other man's back was to him, at the time and he did not see him fall, but saw him immediately afterwards making a snatch at the rapper rope as he was falling — he fell about 40 Fathom and was dreadfully mangled (NEIMME Ref: Bud-48-12-4) | ||||
| | Stones, Peter, 06 Nov 1849, aged 73, he was crushed to death by a large fall of stone while working in the "waste" of the Low Main seam | ||||
| Thompson, Thomas, 11 Dec 1860, aged 13, Pony Putter, head crushed by a tub | |||||
| Willey, John, 15 Sep 1881, aged 40, Engineer, while descending the pumping shaft along with two other men he fell from the loop, a distance of 60 yards [More information ...] | |||||
| 8 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 page have been kindly provided by the
researchers at
North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers (N.E.I.M.M.E.)
and are marked with 
.
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
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Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)
a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Meadows Pit
list of collieries/pits etc. near to Meadows Pit
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Credits
Sources:
- 1854 List of mines by T. Y. Hall, published in Vol II (1853-4) of the Transactions of the North of England Institute of Mining Engineers
- 1860 Mines Inspectors Report, Southern District by John J. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines
- 1881 Mines Inspectors Report (C 3241), Durham District by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
- 1888 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
- 1889 Mines Inspectors Report (C 6015), Durham District (No. 4) by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
- 1890 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
- 1891 Mines Inspectors Report (C 6625), Durham District (No. 4) by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
- 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
- An Account of the strata of Northumberland & Durham as proved by Borings & Sinkings, Volume L-R, published by the North of England Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers, 1887
- 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.
- Researchers at North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers (N.E.I.M.M.E.)
- Victoria History of the Counties of England – Durham. Published in three volumes in 1907.
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Related Links:
| On this site | |
| | Newspaper articles |
Further Research:
Research Notes for Meadows Pit
Contains public sector information licensed under the 
