Deckham Hall Colliery

Location	Deckham, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear — 54.9515, -1.5948 (approximate)
Commodity	Coal
Type	Coal
Worked	By 1874–December 1893
Maximum depth	Unknown.
Operators	J. Hopper and Co. (?–1893)

Overview

A small Gateshead landsale colliery of J. Hopper and Company, about a mile and a half south-south-east of Newcastle, whose last seams, the Bensham and Yard, were given up in December 1893 as not workable at a profit.

History

Deckham Hall Colliery lay at Deckham, Gateshead, about a mile and a half south-south-east of Newcastle. In August 1874 a sinker was killed there by the explosion of a shot he was trying to drill out. J. Hopper and Company owned it in the 1880s, raising coal in 1882 and landsale coal from 1883 to 1890.

Further deaths followed: a hewer killed by a fall of stone in 1879, another by a fall of stone and coal in 1885, and a stoneman who died in July 1888 of burns from an explosion of gas. Plans of its Five Quarter and Six Quarter seams are dated 1886. In December 1893 the Bensham and Yard seams were abandoned as not workable at a profit, and the plan was deposited in February 1894. The second edition Ordnance Survey map marks the site as an old colliery.

Geology

The Five Quarter, Six Quarter, Bensham and Yard seams.

Workings

Unknown.

Closure

The Five Quarter and Six Quarter plans are dated 1886; the Bensham and Yard were abandoned in December 1893 as not workable at a profit.

What remains

Unknown.

Nearby mines

Shipcote Colliery — 0.6 miles (0.9 km) N
Felling Colliery — 1.0 miles (1.6 km) E
Redheugh Colliery — 1.1 miles (1.7 km) NW
Oakwellgate Colliery — 1.2 miles (1.9 km) N
Tyne Main Colliery — 1.2 miles (1.9 km) NE

Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (15 km). Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

J. Hopper and Company owned Deckham Hall Colliery in the 1880s. ^1,2
Deckham Hall raised landsale coal from 1883 to 1890. ¹
In August 1874 a sinker at Deckham Hall was killed by the explosion of a shot he was trying to drill out. ¹
Deckham Hall's seams were abandoned in December 1893 as not workable at a profit. ^1,3
The second edition Ordnance Survey map marks the Deckham Hall site as an old colliery. ²
Plans of Deckham Hall's Five Quarter and Six Quarter seams are dated 1886, and of its Bensham and Yard 1893. ^4,5

Photographs & further reading

Deckham Hall Colliery (Tyne and Wear HER) (reference)

Historic environment record of the old colliery and its owners.

View source

Sources

(primary) Deckham Hall Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
(secondary) Deckham Hall Colliery (HER 6938) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
(primary) Deckham Hall Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
(primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21922532: Deckham Hall, Five Quarter, 1886 — British Geological Survey
(primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21922531: Deckham Hall, Bensham, 1893 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 22 October 2026 · Last researched: 22 October 2026