	Woodland Colliery	Index	Woodland Colliery

Woodland Colliery

(See also Gallashiels Colliery)

Location:

Woodland
16½ miles [26 km] SW of Durham

Map Ref:

(Sheet 92, OL42) NZ066266, 54° 38' 4" N, 1° 53' 52" W

Maps:

1928 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide

Opened:

Closed:

Mar 1921

Pits:

Cowley Shaft, locn: (Sheet 92, OL42) NZ067254, sinking: 1896

Shaft details for Cowley Shaft

Shaft details for Woodland Colliery

Owners:

1880s - Woodland Coal Co. Ltd.

1890s - Woodland Collieries Co. Ltd.

1920s - Cargo Fleet Iron Co. Ltd.

Output:

1888 - Coal.

1894 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.

1896 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.

1900 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.

1902 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.

1905 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.

1910 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.

1915 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.

1921 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.

1923 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.

Employment:

Year	Total	Below	Above
1894	155	99	56
1896	176	112	64
1900	302	202	100
1900	Includes Cowley
1902	285	188	97
1902	Cowley and Woodland combined
1905	320	195	125
1910	426	283	143
1915	422	298	124
1921	494	384	110
1923	4	4

Colliery Management (prior to 1970)

Seams Worked:

1905 - Five Quarter, Main Coal

1910 - Five Quarter, Main Coal

1915 - Main Coal

1921 - Ballarat, Brockwell, Busty, Main Coal

1923 - Cowley

Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Woodland Colliery

Notes:

1874 - A series of borings was put down in the vicinity of Woodlands Colliery, proving the Brockwell Seam

1881 - A shaft was sunk from the surface to the Brockwell Seam north of the Woodlands Pit, Woodlands Colliery

1893 - A series of bore-holes was put down from the surface in the vicinity of Woodlands Colliery, proving the Brockwell Seam

1896 - The Cowley shaft, Woodlands Colliery, was sunk from the surface to the Brockwell Seam

1919 - Brockwell, Busty seams abandoned

1921 - Ballarat, Brockwell or Main, Busty or Five-Quarter seams abandoned

1924 - Brockwell or Main seam abandoned

Miscellaneous Notes and Incidents for Woodland 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!

						Blackett, John Thomas, 21 Feb 1919, aged 36, Onsetter, fell down the shaft, Buried: Woodland Cemetery
						Freeman, Thomas, 12 Oct 1890, (accident: 11 Oct 1890), aged 16, Bankhead Lad, broken arm and serious other bruises; he was riding on an engine set contrary to rules, when he fell off and was dragged a considerable distance; died on following day
						Gill, Philip, 18 Aug 1916, aged 15, fell down shaft
						Kellett, John, 12 Apr 1884, (accident: Mar 1883), aged 60, Hewer, died from reputed injury to head, in March 1883; no proof of accident and no inquest held [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a reportable accident]
						Lowes, George, 02 Dec 1897, aged 38, Stoneman, Fell through a hole in a scaffold in a sinking shaft into 4½ fathoms of water 59 feet below, and was drowned [More information ...]
						Minto, John, 21 Mar 1892, 9:00 a.m., 4th hour of shift, aged 33, Hewer, fall of stone from a breaker while turning a place away out of an old bord
						Morton, Ralph, 04 Apr 1874, aged 20, Hewer, fell down pit ; he leaped from the cage, which had been drawn up to the pulleys
						Tarn, Joseph, 02 Apr 1897, aged 48, Stoneman, He had fired a powder shot in the bottom of a stone drift and waited about forty-five minutes, and then went back and commenced to loosen the stones with a pick, when another explosion occurred, injuring him so severely that he died shortly afterwards. The drift had been driven a short time before by means of gelatine dynamite, and it is supposed that a portion of a charge had not been detonated, and he struck it with his pick when loosening the stones [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.

more information on some of the fatalities shown above

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Woodland Colliery

list of collieries/pits etc. near to Woodland Colliery

Gallery Images:

The Woodland & Crake Scar Collieries Officials 1st August 1913.

Woodland Band with miners' banner at Durham Big Meeting 1924.

Woodland Band in full uniform on Woodland recreation ground, Spring 1939.

A group of Colliery railway workers standing outside the loco shed.

Unknown group of Woodland Colliery workers in shed doorway with symbolic cockerel (the reason for which is not known).

Unknown group of workers at Woodland Colliery railway loading hoppers.

Woodland Cokemen at the Back Pit. Right front of photo is Benjamin Smedley - holding a coke fork.

A view of Woodland Colliery, also known as The Back Pit.

Credits

Sources:

1874 Mines Inspectors Report (C 1216) Where to find this report
1880 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1881 Mines Inspectors Report (C 3241)
1884 Mines Inspectors Report (C 4429), 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
1890 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1890 Mines Inspectors Report (C 6346), Durham District (No. 4) by Thomas Bell, H.M. Inspector of Mines Where to find this report
1892 Mines Inspectors Report (C 6986), 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
1897 Mines Inspectors Report (C 8819), 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
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
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
Contributions by members of the Public
Headstone(s) in Woodland Cemetery
Industrial Locomotives of Durham by The Industrial Railway Society, compiled by Colin E. Mountford and L. G. Charlton, published in 1977
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.