Fatfield Colliery

Overview

The colliery at Fatfield on the River Wear, part of the old Harraton estate and worked from the early 18th century. Its pits suffered explosions that killed 69 in 1708, 39 in 1767, 32 at the Hall Pit in 1813 and 11 at the Juliet or Judith Pit in 1825.

History

Fatfield, by the Wear near Chester-le-Street, formed part of the Harraton estate, and its history is bound up with coal from at least the early 18th century. On 18 August 1708 fire burst from the mouths of three pits there, killing 69; the pits were ventilated only by natural currents, and one, standing in an eddy, had filled with gas that fired at an overman's candle. Another explosion killed fifteen or more in 1763, after which steel mills from Whitehaven were first used in the district, and in March 1767 a pit 80 fathoms deep exploded with 39 lives lost.

Matthias Dunn recorded that firelamps were used to ventilate the colliery in 1732, the first use of that method, and a steam engine built by William Brown of Throckley was installed in 1772. The Hall Pit exploded in September 1813, killing 32. The Juliet or Judith Pit, belonging to Lamb and Co. and known as Harraton Outside, exploded on 3 July 1825, killing everyone below.

Geology

Durham Coal Measures beside the River Wear; gas in pits standing in eddies of the natural ventilation.

Workings

Several pits, including the Hall Pit and the Juliet or Judith Pit; a 342-foot shaft in 1708; ventilation by natural circulation, then by firelamps from 1732; a steam engine from 1772.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Harraton Colliery — Fatfield formed part of the Harraton estate, and its Juliet Pit was known as Harraton Outside.

Disasters & major incidents

• Fatfield Colliery explosion, 1708
  18 August 1708 · Explosion · 69 fatalities
  At three o'clock in the morning of 18 August 1708 fire burst from the mouths of three pits at Fatfield, on the Wear near Chester-le-Street, with a noise like cannon, and 69 people died. Two men and a woman were blown up the 342-foot shaft and thrown clear of the pit.
• Fatfield Colliery explosion, 1763
  1763 · Explosion · 15 fatalities
  In 1763 an explosion of gas at Fatfield Colliery, near Chester-le-Street, killed fifteen or more people. After it the first steel mills used in the district were brought from Whitehaven to light the workings.
• Fatfield Colliery explosion, 1767
  March 1767 · Explosion · 39 fatalities
  In March 1767 a colliery near Fatfield, 80 fathoms deep, exploded while all the hands were at work, killing 39. The Newcastle Journal noted that it had been asked not to report such accidents, and dropped the subject.
• Fatfield Colliery Hall Pit explosion, 1813
  28 September 1813 · Explosion · 30 fatalities
  On 28 September 1813 the Hall Pit at Fatfield, in the parish of Chester-le-Street, fired with foul air and killed 30 or more men and boys. A stone falling from the roof was thought to have driven firedamp into the workings, where it caught at the miners' candles.
• Fatfield Colliery explosion, 1825
  3 July 1825 · Explosion · 11 fatalities
  On the evening of 3 July 1825 an explosion in W. M. Lamb and Co.'s Juliet or Judith Pit at Fatfield, known as Harraton Outside, killed all eleven men below and the horses. A few hours later forty or fifty pitmen and boys would have been in the mine.

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery was working in the 1700s. ^1,2
• An explosion on 18 August 1708 killed 69, fire bursting from the mouths of three pits. ^1,3
• Firelamps were introduced to ventilate the pit in 1732, and a steam engine built by William Brown was installed in 1772. ³
• The Hall Pit at Fatfield exploded on 28 September 1813, killing 32. ^4,2
• Fatfield formed part of the Harraton estate; the Judith Pit was known as Harraton Outside and belonged to W. M. Lamb and Co. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Fatfield Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Fatfield — Co-Curate (Newcastle University)
3. (secondary) Fatfield Colliery Explosion - Chester-le-Street - 1708 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) Fatfield, Hall Pit — Durham Mining Museum
5. (secondary) Fatfield Colliery Judith Pit Explosion - Chester-le-Street - 1825 — Northern Mine Research Society

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