Coxlodge Colliery

Overview

A Gosforth colliery north of Newcastle, working the prized Wallsend or High Main seam from the Jubilee and Regent pits by 1821, where a gas explosion in 1863 killed 19 or more men and boys; it closed in 1894 when its seams no longer paid.

History

Coxlodge Colliery, also called Riddell's Wall's-end, lay in the north of Coxlodge township, about three-quarters of a mile west of Gosforth Colliery. The royalty belonged to Ralph Riddell of Felton, and in the 1840s the colliery was worked by the Rev. R. H. Brandling and partners. Its Jubilee Pit, named for George III's jubilee in 1809, was 68 fathoms deep, and its Regent or Engine Pit, sunk from 1811 and named for the Prince Regent, 92 fathoms. Both worked the High Main, 4½ to 5 feet thick and of excellent quality, and the colliery's waggonway joined Gosforth's, the waggons being drawn by horses. An explosion in July 1821 killed one man, and in 1852 a four-ninths share of the colliery was offered for sale by order of the Court of Chancery.

The owners were Bell and Brandling in the 1850s, then Joshua Bower. On 6 March 1863, with the mine worked by both naked lights and safety lamps, gas exploded in the Leonard's Cross Cut district (see Disasters, below). The owners' adviser, Thomas Emerson Forster, concluded that a working place had holed into an old bord partly filled with rubbish, and that the gas lodged there had fired at a candle. The jury exonerated the officials but recommended that naked lights be discontinued. The colliery later passed to the owners of Burradon and Cox Lodge collieries and to N. G. Lambert and Company. The Low Main seam was abandoned in 1893 and the Five Quarter in 1894 as unprofitable, and the colliery closed on 16 June 1894.

Geology

The High Main or Wallsend seam, 4½ to 5 feet thick, rising here from Gosforth; later the Low Main and Five Quarter seams.

Workings

The Jubilee or North Pit (68 fathoms, the upcast in 1863), the Regent or Engine Pit (sunk from 1811, 92 fathoms, the downcast) about 700 yards away, and the Bower Pit; a horse-drawn waggonway joining Gosforth Colliery's.

Closure

The Low Main seam was abandoned in 1893 and the Five Quarter in 1894 as not profitable; the colliery closed on 16 June 1894.

Related mines

• Burradon Colliery — In the 1880s both were held by the owners of Burradon and Cox Lodge collieries.
• Fawdon Colliery — Their Coxlodge and Fawdon B, Bower and Jubilee workings in the Low Main share an abandonment plan of 1893.
• Kenton Colliery — Kenton and Coxlodge collieries shared a waggonway and a viewer, John Watson, and their old plans were deposited together as Kenton and Coxlodge.

Disasters & major incidents

• Coxlodge Colliery explosion, 1863
  6 March 1863 · Explosion · 19 fatalities
  An explosion of firedamp at the Bower pit of Coxlodge Colliery, north of Newcastle, on 6 March 1863 killed nineteen men by Wikipedia's account and twenty-two by the Durham Mining Museum's. The museum records the ignition as caused by naked lights. The colliery, developed by Matthew Bell and Charles Brandling about 1810, closed in 1894 and its men went to other pits nearby.

What's uncertain

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

• DMM gives 22 lives lost on 6 March 1863; the Tyne and Wear HER gives 19, and the jury's verdict names 'David Moore and eighteen others'. (disputed) ^1,2,5

Recorded claims

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

• In the 1840s the Jubilee Pit (68 fathoms) and Regent Pit (92 fathoms) worked the High Main seam, 4½ to 5 feet thick, for the Rev. R. H. Brandling and partners. ¹
• Coxlodge opened before 1821 and closed in 1894; its owners were Bell and Brandling in the 1850s, then Joshua Bower, then the Burradon and Coxlodge owners and N. G. Lambert and Co. ^1,2,3
• In 1852 four-ninths of 'Coxlodge or Riddell's Wall's-end Colliery' was advertised for sale by decree of the High Court of Chancery. ⁴
• Thomas Emerson Forster concluded that a working place had holed into an old bord partly filled with rubbish and the gas there fired at a candle; the jury exonerated the officials and recommended ending naked lights. ⁵
• DMM gives 22 lives lost on 6 March 1863; the Tyne and Wear HER gives 19, and the jury's verdict names 'David Moore and eighteen others'. (disputed) ^1,2,5
• The Low Main seam was abandoned in 1893 and the Five Quarter in 1894 as not profitable; the colliery closed on 16 June 1894. ¹
• The national catalogue holds a High Main plan filed as 'Kenton and Coxlodge Engine/Jubilee', abandoned in 1829. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Coxlodge Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Coxlodge Colliery, Jubilee Pit (HER 4012) — Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record (Sitelines)
3. (primary) Coxlodge Colliery, Bower Pit (HER 6924) — Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record (Sitelines)
4. (primary) Newspaper advertisement: sale of the Gosforth estates and four-ninths of Coxlodge or Riddell's Wall's-end Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
5. (secondary) Coxlodge Colliery Explosion – Coxlodge – 1863 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans catalogue: Kenton and Coxlodge Engine/Jubilee (High Main, 1829) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026