Wallsend Colliery explosion, 1790

On 4 October 1790 an explosion at Wallsend Colliery, north of the Tyne, killed seven people. It was one of a run of explosions at the colliery in its first sixty years, after those of 1785 and 1786 and before the larger losses of 1799, 1803, 1821 and 1835.

Cause

An explosion of firedamp.

Recorded claims

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

• An explosion at Wallsend Colliery killed seven people. ^1,2,3
• The explosion was on 4 October 1790. ^1,2,3
• John Sykes's Local Records (1833) noted that this month an explosion took place in Wallsend colliery by which seven human beings lost their lives. ²
• It was one of a series of explosions at Wallsend between 1767 and 1838. 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: “On 4 October 1790 an explosion at Wallsend Colliery, north of the Tyne, killed seven people. It was one of a run of…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “An explosion of firedamp.”

Sources

1. (secondary) Tyne and Wear HER 1182: Wallsend Colliery, Church Pit or G Pit — Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Colliery Disaster 1790, Wallsend — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) NMRS: Wallsend Colliery Explosion, Gateshead, 1790 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026