Whitburn Colliery

Whitburn Colliery was a coal mine located in South Shields, North East England, located on the North Sea coast.

Development

The site was originally developed by the Whitburn Coal Company. On 14 July 1874, the company began sinking the Whitburn winnings, a bore-hole put down below the Brockwell Seam. However, the company failed to find any coal, and was faced with large amounts of water ingress from the North Sea.

In 1877, a new shaft was developed using the Kind-Chaudron process, its first deployment in the UK coal industry. The section through the water-fishered strata is lined with iron tubing, although throughout its life the electric pumps were required to extract 12,000 imperial gallons (55,000 L; 14,000 US gal) per day. Both shafts had a diameter of 13 feet (4.0 m), with No.1 shaft having a depth of 180 fathoms (1,080 ft; 330 m), and No.2 with a depth of 115 fathoms (690 ft; 210 m), to enable access to the Bensham seam, with thicknesses between 4 feet (1.2 m) to 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m).

Connected to the XX railway, the output quickly rose to 1,500 tonnes (1,700 tons), employing 1,600 workers.

1934, 16 May - Five Quarter seam abandoned

Input

Marsden is a suburb in South Shields, North East England, located on the North Sea coast.

The original village of Marsden, was demolished in the 1960s due to the risk of erosion from the encroaching shoreline. What remains are five rows of Victorian terraced houses, which were originally built to house miners working in Whitburn Colliery. There is also a small chapel and a primary school, although this is technically located in Whitburn.

Coal from the colliery fueled the lime kilns which closed at the same time as the mines.

The nearby Marsden Bay includes the Marsden Rock sea stack. The Leas, located to the north, is an important seabird sanctuary. This land, along with Souter Lighthouse (the first lighthouse in the world to be powered by alternating current), is now owned by the National Trust.

The village also gave its name to the Marsden Rattler, a railway which joined Whitburn Colliery to the main line in South Shields.