Collingwood Main Colliery explosion, 1813

On 17 July 1813 gas fired at the candles of an overman, deputies and others who had gone down Collingwood Main Colliery at Chirton, North Shields, to save timber and iron from a creep. Eight were killed and two badly injured. The creep had blocked the ventilation.

Cause

Gas, released where a creep had obstructed the ventilation, ignited at the candles of the men sent to recover materials.

Contributing factors

Ventilation blocked by a creep; candles in use.

What happened

Collingwood Main, also called Burdon Main, was Bells, Robson and Co.'s colliery in the township of Chirton, on the western edge of North Shields. It worked the Low Main seam from the A Pit and the West Chirton Pit, 110 and 120 fathoms deep, and its workings ran out under the Tyne; furnaces at the Old Pit and the Hopewell shafts drew the air. The mine was thought clean, though the viewer T. H. Hair later remarked that this was judged from how the men looked when they came up.

A creep, the slow crushing of pillars and roof, had obstructed the ventilation and threatened to bury the timber, iron and other materials in that part of the mine. The overman, deputies and others went down to recover them by candlelight, and the gas fired at their lights. Among the dead were Hope, one of the viewers, the overman Wild, and two young men named Richardson, orphans who supported their grandmother, said to be in her hundred and second year.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Hair dates the explosion to 1815. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The explosion on 17 July 1813 killed eight workmen and severely injured two. ^1,2
• The ventilation was obstructed by a creep and the gas fired at the lights of men securing timber and iron. ^1,2
• A viewer, Mr Hope, and the overman Wild were among the dead. ¹
• Hair dates the explosion to 1815. (disputed) ¹

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…an overman, deputies and others who had gone down Collingwood Main Colliery at Chirton, North Shields, to save timber and iron from a creep.…”
• Deputy (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “On 17 July 1813 gas fired at the candles of an overman, deputies and others who had gone down Collingwood Main Colliery at Chirton,…”
• Fathom (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Low Main seam from the A Pit and the West Chirton Pit, 110 and 120 fathoms deep, and its workings ran out under the Tyne; furnaces at the Old…”
• Overman (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “On 17 July 1813 gas fired at the candles of an overman, deputies and others who had gone down Collingwood Main Colliery at…”
• Viewer (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…Hopewell shafts drew the air. The mine was thought clean, though the viewer T. H. Hair later remarked that this was judged from how the men…”

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Sources

1. (secondary) Collingwood Main Colliery Explosion - Chirton - 1813 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Collingwood Main, 17 July 1813 — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Burdon Main Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 3 October 2026 · Last researched: 3 October 2026