	Rough Lea Colliery	Index	Rough Lea Colliery

Rough Lea Colliery

Location:

Hunwick
7½ miles [12 km] SW of Durham

Map Ref:

(Sheet 92) NZ193336, 54° 41' 50" N, 1° 42' 0" W

Maps:

1898 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide

1928 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide

1949 map detailed map from the Ordnance Survey

Opened:

1858

Closed:

1931

Sinking Started:

Jun 1858

Pits:

Shaft details for Rough Lea Colliery

Owners:

1858 - Henry Stobart & Co.

1880 - North Bitchburn Coal Co. Ltd.

1926 - Pease & Partners Ltd.

Output:

1860 - Coal.

1865 - Coal.

1873 - Coal.

1888 - Coal.

1894 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.

1896 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.

1900 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.

1902 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.

1905 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.

1910 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.

1915 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.

1921 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.

1923 - Coal: Coking. Fireclay.

1924 - Coal: Coking. Fireclay.

1925 - Coal: Coking. Fireclay.

Employment:

Year	Total	Below	Above
1883	209	209
1894	319	246	73
1896	340	262	78
1900	348	267	81
1902	360	281	79
1905	353	273	80
1910	391	306	85
1915	311	263	48
1921	151	132	19
1923	167	140	27
1924	82	68	14
1925	3		3
1925	Abandoned
1940	Standing idle

Colliery Management (prior to 1970)

Seams Worked:

1905 - Ballarat, Constantine, Five Quarter, Harvey, Top Main

1910 - Ballarat, Constantine, Five Quarter, Harvey, Top Main

1915 - Ballarat, Constantine, Five Quarter, Harvey, Top Main

1921 - Ballarat, Busty, Constantine, Five Quarter, Harvey, Top Main

1923 - Ballarat, Busty, Constantine, Five Quarter, Top Main

1924 - Ballarat, Busty, Constantine, Five Quarter, Top Main

1925 - Ballarat, Busty, Constantine, Five Quarter, Top Main [Abandoned]

Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Rough Lea Colliery

Notes:

1858 - Rough Lea Colliery, in the township of Hunwick, was sunk from the surface to the Brockwell Seam.

Miscellaneous Notes and Incidents for Rough Lea Colliery

Description

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!

						Blackburn, William, 06 Aug 1898, (accident: 28 May 1898), aged 59, Hewer, died to-day from an alleged strain when stepping off a canch in the pit on May 28th last
						Burdon, William, 11 Aug 1876, aged 42, Deputy, killed by a fall of stone while engaged in drawing out a jud
						Davison, John Dixon, 11 Apr 1917, aged 23, Hewer, fall of roof (inquest held 13 Apr 1917)
						Harrison, Robert, 16 Sep 1887, aged 17, Driver, fall of stone on tramway while driving his set inbye ; a prop had previously been drawn which caused the fall
						Hawkey, William Jackson, 24 Dec 1913, (accident: 22 Dec 1913), aged 40, Hewer, deceased was firing a shot by means of a squib; he set fire to the match and retired to a place of safety, but the shot did not explode; he waited the stipulated 10 minutes and then returned, but instead of withdrawing the squib and replacing it with a fresh one, he relighted it, with the result that the shot exploded at once; he was severely burned as well as injured by stones from the shot, and died two days later
						Heslop, William, 06 Oct 1859, Pony Driver, crushed against roof by tub drawn by pony
						Martin, Thomas, 23 Oct 1880, (accident: 13 Oct 1880), aged 38, Collier, killed by a fall of stone
						Pratt, Joseph Sunter, 17 Aug 1918, aged 31, killed by a fall of stone
						Pratt, Ralph, 24 Dec 1896, (accident: 26 Nov 1896), aged 41, Hewer, Back severely injured by a fall of stone from the roof of his working place. Died on December 24th
						Pyle, Joseph, 11 Dec 1901, aged 47, Hewer, died from spasms of heart while at work in mine
						Smith, Paul, 23 Aug 1887, aged 44, Blacksmith, caught by part of a set of tubs which had become uncoupled at bank top; they ran down and caught him before he could get into a refuge hole at bottom of bank
						Sproates, Thomas, 31 Jan 1866, aged 15, Screener, crushed by railway truck
						Thompson, Samuel, 11 Jun 1894, 11:45 a.m., 2nd hour of shift, aged 30, Hewer, Died in his working place from heart disease. The ventilation was good [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]

						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 .

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Rough Lea Colliery

list of collieries/pits etc. near to Rough Lea Colliery

Gallery Images:

Credits

Sources:

1859 Mines Inspectors Report, Southern District by John J. Atkinson, H.M. Inspector of Mines
1866 Mines Inspectors Report
1873-4 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1876 Mines Inspectors Report (C. 1734), Durham by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines 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)
1887 Mines Inspectors Report (C 5450) 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), Durham District (No. 4) by Thomas Bell, 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
1896 Mines Inspectors Report (C 8450), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1898 Mines Inspectors Report (C 9264), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1900 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1901 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 1062), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, 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
1913 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 7439), Northern Division (No. 2) by J. R. R. Wilson, 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
1923 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1924 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1925 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1940 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory published by Louis Cassier Co. 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
Contributions by members of the Public
Mineral Statistics for 1860 (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 1865 (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 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
Victoria History of the Counties of England – Durham. Published in three volumes in 1907.

Pictures:

Further Research:

Research Notes for Rough Lea Colliery

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