Heaton Main Colliery

Overview

A colliery in Heaton, on the eastern edge of Newcastle, opened in 1792 beside the abandoned Heaton Banks workings of 1736-45 and worked until 1852. In May 1815 the water in those old workings broke into it and drowned or suffocated seventy-five men and boys, who were not reached for nine months.

History

Coal was worked at Heaton long before the main colliery: Heaton Banks Colliery opened in 1736 and was abandoned in 1745, its shafts covered with planks and earth and its workings left to fill with water. Heaton Main Colliery opened in 1792, with the C, D and E pits following early in the next century; the Tyne and Wear HER describes it as at the cutting edge of technical development and dominating the local economy. In May 1815 water from the old workings flooded the colliery (see Disasters, below). The spinney on the site of the E or High Pit was later planted with a tree for each life lost. The colliery closed in 1852.

Geology

Northumberland Coal Measures; the workings descended at about 1 in 10 towards the abandoned, water-filled Heaton Banks waste of 1745.

Workings

A single winding shaft with associated C, D and E (High) pits; exploring drifts and boreholes were driven ahead towards the old waste.

Closure

Closed in 1852.

What remains

The site lies under suburban Heaton; a spinney on the site of the E or High Pit was planted in memory of the 1815 dead.

None recorded beyond the memorial spinney.

Redevelopment

Housing and parkland of Heaton, Newcastle.

Nearby mines

• Walker Colliery — 3.0 km E
• Felling Colliery — 3.3 km S
• Redheugh Colliery — 3.5 km SW
• Coxlodge Colliery — 3.9 km NW
• Rising Sun Colliery — 4.5 km NE

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Disasters & major incidents

• Heaton Main Colliery inrush, 1815
  1815 · Flooding / Inundation · 75 fatalities
  On 3 May 1815 water from the flooded workings of the old Heaton Banks colliery broke into Heaton Main Colliery, near Newcastle, and closed the bottom of its only shaft. Seventy-five men and boys were trapped. The pit took nine months to drain, and the first body was not reached until January 1816.

Recorded claims

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

• Heaton Banks Colliery opened in 1736 and closed in 1745; Heaton Main Colliery opened in 1792 and closed in 1852. ¹
• The old Heaton Banks workings had become entirely filled with water; their shafts had been covered over with planks and earth when the colliery was given up. ^1,2
• The spinney on the site of the High or E Pit was planted in commemoration of the 1815 disaster, a tree for each life lost. ¹

Sources

1. (primary) Heaton Colliery (Heaton Banks) (HER 4149) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
2. (secondary) Heaton Disaster (quoting contemporary accounts) — Newcastle University Library
3. (secondary) Heaton Colliery Inrush - Newcastle-on-Tyne - 1815 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 21 September 2026 · Last researched: 21 September 2026