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	St. Lawrence Colliery	Index	St. Lawrence Colliery

Location:	Newcastle-on-Tyne 1 miles [2 km] E of Newcastle
Map Ref:	(Sheet 88) NZ268640, 54° 58' 14" N, 1° 34' 49" W
Opened:	1833
Closed:
Sinking Started:	03 Dec 1832
Owners:	1831 - Robert Todd & John Watson
	1840s - Messrs. Todd, Dunn & Ridley
	Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for St. Lawrence Colliery
Notes:	1833, Aug 07 - Wednesday, the neighbourhood of Newcastle, was enlivened by the firing of guns, and other tokens of joy, at the loading of the first vessel from the low main seam at St. Lawrence colliery, near Newcastle, called Picton Main. The pit was begun from the surface on the 3rd December preceding, and was completed to the low main, a depth of 94 fathoms, in the short period of eight months. The seam is in great perfection, is six feet thick, and, as a proof of the spirit of the parties, notwithstanding the coal work was only commenced on Monday, they raised on the following day upwards of 120 tons of coal. A party of gentlemen dined on the occasion, and spent a convivial day.
	1934 - Low Main, Six Quarter seams abandoned

Description

This colliery is situated adjacent to the river Tyne, and in the eastern suburbs of Newcastle. It is held of the mayor and corporation of that town, and is carried on by Messrs. Todd, Dunn, and Ridley. The period at which the Wallsend or High Main seam was wrought is unknown, but is supposed to have been considerably more than a century ago, from which time it remained in a drowned state, until the winning of Friar's Goose Colliery (which see), on the opposite side of the river, in 1830. The ancient workings having been all intercommon, the operations of the Friar's Goose engine drained this colliery, and induced the re-opening of it, in 1831, by Mr. Robert Todd, and the late Mr. John Watson, colliery viewer. An old shaft was re-opened to the High Main seam, and operations carried on in every direction, but without success, as the pillars were for the most part wrought away. After the death of Mr. Watson, however, a new pit was sunk from the surface to the Low Main seam, a depth of 92 fathoms, in the unprecedentedly short time of eight months, thereby regenerating the colliery, and laying open the following suite of seams, which may be taken as one of the best standards of the coal beds of the river Tyne, viz. :—

	Fath.		Ft.	In.
At	34	High Main Seam,	5	8
Further	6	Metal Coal Seam, with band,	3	0
do.	30	Bensham Seam,	2	9
do.	12	Six-quarter Seam	3	10
do.	5	Five-quarter Seam,	2	6
do.	5	Low Main,	5	10
	92

All the above seams are workable except the Metal Coal and Five-quarter. The workings of the Low Main seam extend underneath the river Tyne, Sandgate, &c., and the coals are conveyed to the shaft by underground inclined planes of great length. In the working away of the pillars in this seam, a spring of water was raised, and which, at the time, induced the proprietors to build a salt pan; but it was not found sufficiently productive to continue the manufactory.

This is the only colliery in the district which has wrought the Six-quarter seam. At the distance of 800 yards from the shaft, a succession of downcast dykes cause the coals to be raised up a perpendicular staple, 14 yards deep, by a horse gin, fitted up, for the first time in this part of the country, with wire ropes, 2¼ inches in circumference, and raising at each pull about 14 cwt.

The High Main seam is interrupted to the westward, at about 28 fathoms below the surface, by a gravel bed ; but this is found to be confined entirely to that seam, as well as several of the dykes and troubles, which do not appear to be connected with the lower beds of coal. A boring was made in 1839, in search of the seams lying below the Low Main; but no satisfactory result was obtained. The lower seams worked emit great quantities of inflammable gas, and require the very best arrangements for ventilation, in the course of which the air is subdivided into the different seams by innumerable splits and outlets; by which means, although several partial fires have occurred, yet no material explosion has ever taken place. The lower stratification is remarkably dry; the water of the Metal Coal seam being forced up to the Main Coal level, at both pits, by cast iron tubbing, 7 fathoms in length, from whence it is is discharged.

This was one of the first collieries which introduced the system of working with square tubs; the shafts being fitted up with cages, and the tubs, guided by wooden spears, and placed one above the other, working simultaneously out of the three seams. The colliery is commanded by two winding engines, capable of drawing 350 tons of coals per day; and the coals are delivered on board the vessels by an inclined plane of 400 yards long. They are called, in the London market, "Todd and Watson's Wallsend", "St. Lawrence," and "Picton Main."

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!

						Gray, John, 24 Nov 1834, Shifter, left a wife and 5 children [John's wife was Margaret (nee Mackey) and his children were: Esther; John; Edward; John Mackey and William], Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 26 Nov 1834 [More information ...]
						Hedley, Thomas, 24 Nov 1834, Master Mason, cousin of Robert Watson, left 8 children, wife far advanced in pregnancy, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 26 Nov 1834 [More information ...]
						Watson, Robert, 24 Nov 1834, Mason, cousin of Thomas Hedley, left a wife and 3 children, Buried: St. Bartholomew, Longbenton on 26 Nov 1834 [More information ...]
						3 names found

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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.

  more information on some of the fatalities shown above

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

  a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of St. Lawrence Colliery

  list of collieries/pits etc. near to St. Lawrence Colliery

Gallery Images:

Credits

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Related Links:

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

Further Research:

  Research Notes for St. Lawrence Colliery