South Shields, St. Hilda's Colliery

HER Number:
2355

District:
S Tyneside

Site Name:
South Shields, St. Hilda's Colliery

Place:
South Shields

Map Sheet:
NZ36NE

Class:
Industrial

Site Type: Broad:
Coal Mining Site

Site Type: Specific:
Colliery

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Extant Building

Description:
St. Hilda's Colliery was served by St. Hilda's Wagonway (HER ref. 2356) and by a Ballast Railway (HER ref. 2427). The shaft first sunk in 1822 by the Brandlings and the Colliery opened in 1825. The mine holds a significant position in the development of ventilation, lighting and safety in the mines. Following a gas explosion in 1839, which killed 51 miners, an inquest found that the disaster had resulted from the use of lighted candles in the mine and recommended that their use should be abolished. A 'Committee for the Investigation of Accidents in Mines' was formed in South Shields shortly afterwards, the report from which considered the relative merits of the various safety lamps and went some way towards improving the safety of mines. St. Hilda's Colliery worked throughout nineteenth century, new structures being constructed on the surface in the late nineteenth century and early 20th century, when the structures at the pit head were altered and a new pumping engine house, which still survives, was constructed adjacent to the shaft. When the interlinked Westoe Colliery closed in 1993, the need to maintain the shaft and buildings ended. The pumping engine house at St Hilda's was partially renovated in 1989 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the disaster, and the remaining buildings on the site (the colliery head stocks) became grade 2 Listed Buildings in 1990. LISTED GRADE 2

Easting:
3620

Northing:
6681

Grid Reference:
NZ36206681

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 2355 >> 1st edition Ordnance Survey Map, c.1855, 6 inch scale, Durham, 4 N.T. Sinclair, & I.S. Carr, 1990, Railways of South Shields, p.3 I.M. Ayris, & S.M. Linsley,1994, A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Tyne and Wear, p.40 Tyne and Wear Specialist Conservation Team, 1999, Conservation Plan for St Hilda's Colliery Headstocks, South Shields Dept. of National Heritage, of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historical Interest, Dec-90 English Heritage 1995, Monuments Protection Programme, Site Assessment 1990, North East Coal - Westoe Colliery, Promotional Brochure; Durham Mining Museum www.durham.org.uk; Colliery Engineer 1933, map of pits in Harton Coal Company; T.H. Hair, 1844, A View of the Collieries of County Durham and Northumberland; GL Atkinson, 1989, Killed by Candle - The explosion at St Hilda's Colliery 1839; Norman Emery, 1998, Banners of the Durham Coalfield; NECT, 2015, National Heritage at Risk Grade II Project; Vindomora Solutions, 2017, St Hilda's Colliery, South Shields - Building Recording