Heworth Colliery war memorial

The memorial to the men of Heworth Colliery, Gateshead, who died in the First World War: a stone memorial unveiled on 16 July 1922, whose whereabouts are now unknown, and a framed Roll of Honour of 120 names that survives at Hopper House, Heworth.

The mining history in this record

Many Heworth miners joined the armed services when the First World War broke out, and many of them were killed. Major John English, who had served in the war, and the Reverend C. L. Gwilliams raised money for a memorial to the colliery's dead, and the Heworth Colliery War Memorial was unveiled on 16 July 1922.

The colliery's Roll of Honour is a framed and glazed paper scroll headed "Heworth Colliery Employees, Roll of Honour", with the text "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" and the dates 1914 to 1919, the war ending formally only with the peace treaty of 1919. It lists 120 men in two columns by surname, forename, rank and regiment, inside a narrow green and gold border with a floral design at each corner, a small watercolour at the head and crossed flags at the foot.

People

Major John English, who had served in the war, and the Reverend C. L. Gwilliams raised the money for the stone memorial.

Legacy today

The Roll of Honour hung in the Miners' Hall at Heworth until the 1960s, when it was moved to Hopper House, Heworth, where it remains. The Durham Aged Miners' Homes Association restored it in February 1991. Where the stone memorial is now is not known.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The Heworth Colliery War Memorial, paid for by money raised by Major John English and the Reverend C. L. Gwilliams, was unveiled on 16 July 1922. (documented fact) ¹
• The Heworth Colliery Roll of Honour names 120 employees who died in the First World War. (documented fact) ^2,3
• The roll is headed 'Heworth Colliery Employees, Roll of Honour', quotes 'Greater love hath no man than this' and is dated 1914 to 1919. (documented fact) ³
• The roll was moved from the Miners' Hall to Hopper House, Heworth, in the 1960s and restored by the Durham Aged Miners' Homes Association in February 1991. (documented fact) ³
• The whereabouts of the 1922 stone memorial are unknown. (contemporary account, uncertain) ²

Mines

• Heworth Colliery — Tyne and Wear
  The memorial and Roll of Honour to the Heworth Colliery employees killed in the First World War.

Real-world mining concepts used here

Colliery

Sources

1. (secondary) Heworth Colliery — Gateshead History
2. (secondary) Heworth Colliery WWI Memorial — Gateshead History (Jon Bratton)
3. (primary) Heworth Colliery Employees WW1 (WMR 42113) — Imperial War Museums, War Memorials Register

Record created: 5 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026