Derwent Crook Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Low Fell, Gateshead, worked before 1746 and served by branches of the Team wagonway. Held by Lord Ravensworth and Partners in the 1840s, it was the scene in 1841 of a boiler explosion that hurled the four-ton boiler over the engine-house and killed four, including the colliery's engineer.

History

Derwent Crook Colliery lay at Low Fell, on the western face of the Gateshead ridge above the Team valley. A branch of the Team wagonway crossed the stream into Derwent Crook perhaps as early as the 1680s, and coal was worked there in 1740 by Claughton, who was barred from using the Team Way; the colliery was working before 1746. A branch was rebuilt from Derwent Crook and Breckenbeds to the Team Way in the later eighteenth century, and plans of Derwent Crook and Brecken workings in the Low Main, Five Quarter and Key seams are dated 1786. The Team Way to Derwent Crook, which at one time reached Low Fell, was cut back to Low Moor in 1812 but still working in the 1840s. In 1819 a boring from the thill of the Low Main in the George Pit proved the Beaumont and lower seams, and the Thomas Pit was sunk to the Harvey seam at about 332 feet.

In the 1840s the colliery belonged to Lord Ravensworth and Partners. On Saturday 29 May 1841, between four and five in the afternoon, the men at bank were sitting in the engine-house taking their customary Saturday allowance when the boiler burst. The four-ton body of the boiler was lifted clean over the engine-house; the colliery's engineer, Michael Almond, was caught by a piece of the bottom plate as he ran and killed, nine others were injured, and three of them, Cuthbert Young, William Morpeth and John Ford, also died (see Disasters, below). Plans of the colliery's Harvey workings were abandoned in 1873, and its Harvey or Beaumont seam in 1935.

Geology

Durham coalfield: the Low Main, Five Quarter, Key, Harvey and Beaumont seams.

Workings

The George Pit and the Thomas Pit, with branches of the Team wagonway to the Team staiths.

Closure

Harvey seam workings were abandoned in 1873, and the Harvey or Beaumont seam in 1935.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Springwell Colliery — Both were held by Lord Ravensworth and Partners.
• West Moor Colliery — Both were held by Lord Ravensworth and Partners.

Disasters & major incidents

• Derwent Crook Colliery boiler explosion, 1841
  29 May 1841 · Machinery · 4 fatalities
  On Saturday 29 May 1841 the boiler at Derwent Crook Colliery, Low Fell, burst while the men sat in the engine-house taking their allowance; its four-ton body flew clean over the engine-house, and the engineer and three workmen died.

Recorded claims

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

• Derwent Crook Colliery was working before 1746; it had George and Thomas pits and was owned by Lord Ravensworth and Partners in the 1840s. ^1,2
• The first eastern branch of the Team wagonway crossed into Derwent Crook perhaps as early as the 1680s, and coal was worked there in 1740 by Claughton. ³
• Plans of Derwent Crook and Brecken workings in the Low Main, Five Quarter and Key seams are dated 1786. ^1,4
• On 29 May 1841 the colliery's boiler exploded, the four-ton body being lifted over the engine-house; the engineer, Michael Almond, was killed and nine others injured. ^5,6
• Harvey seam workings were abandoned in 1873, and the Harvey or Beaumont in 1935. ^1,7

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derwent Crook Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Derwent Crook Colliery (HER 6939) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
3. (secondary) Team Way to Derwent Crook (HER 3784) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Derwent Crook and Brecken, Low Main, abandoned 1786 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans
5. (primary) Local Records; or, Historical Register of Remarkable Events, vol. 3 (T. Fordyce, 1867) — Internet Archive
6. (primary) Colliery Accident 1841: Derwent Crook — Durham Mining Museum
7. (primary) BGS mine plan: Derwent Crook, Harvey, abandoned 1873 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

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