Lawson Main Colliery

Overview

A Byker colliery opened up in the 1780s, whose Delight Pit reached the Low Main at about 782 feet and whose waggonway to St Anthony's became one of the first iron railways in the north; it was flooded out in 1811.

History

Lawson Main Colliery, also written Lawson's Main, lay at Byker, about a mile east-north-east of Newcastle. Many small pits were scattered across Byker through the first three quarters of the 18th century, and Lawson's Main was opened up by the mid-1780s, served by a waggonway running south to staiths at St Anthony's on the Tyne. From the 1790s that line was joined to the Heaton waggonway and carried Heaton Main's coal as well, and in 1797 its wooden ways were replaced by cast iron rails on stone sleepers, probably making it the first iron railway in the north of England. Part of it worked as an inclined plane.

The colliery's Delight Pit was sunk from about 180 feet above sea level to the Low Main seam, nearly six feet thick, at about 782 feet. Its Jane Pit was cut by a whin dyke. Lawson's Main was flooded out in 1811 and abandoned, and the waggonway was closed the same year and its materials sold.

Working did not end there: a combined plan of the Byker and Lawson Main pits in the High Main is dated 1836, and Lawson Main plans of the Low Main are dated 1872. The colliery appears on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of about 1850, and its buildings and shaft more clearly on the second edition of 1890. An archaeological evaluation in September 2004 found the foundations of the colliery buildings just below the turf: sandstone and brick walls and piers, a brick platform, a floor of compacted coal and a yard laid on large sandstone slabs.

Geology

The Low Main seam, nearly six feet thick at the Delight Pit; a whin dyke cuts the Jane Pit.

Workings

The Delight Pit and the Jane Pit, with a waggonway to St Anthony's staiths.

Closure

Flooded out and abandoned in 1811; later plans exist for the High Main (1836, with the Byker pits) and the Low Main (1872).

What remains

Foundations of the colliery buildings survive just below the turf (2004 evaluation).

Buried foundations: sandstone and brick walls and piers, a brick platform and a compacted coal floor.

Related mines

• Heaton Main Colliery — From the 1790s Heaton Main's coal ran to St Anthony's staiths over the Lawson's Main waggonway.

Recorded claims

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

• Lawson's Main was served by a waggonway to St Anthony's staiths, joined to the Heaton waggonway in the 1790s and relaid with cast iron rails on stone sleepers in 1797, probably the first iron railway in the north of England. ^1,2
• The Delight Pit reached the Low Main seam, nearly six feet thick, at about 782 feet. ³
• Lawson's Main Colliery was flooded out in 1811 and abandoned. ^1,2
• An evaluation in September 2004 found the colliery building foundations just below the turf. ⁴
• Lawson Main Colliery is shown on the Ordnance Survey first edition of 1850 and its buildings and shaft more clearly on the second edition of 1890. ^5,4
• Abandonment plans of Lawson Main exist for the High Main, with the Byker pits, dated 1836, and for the Low Main dated 1872. ^6,7

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Lawson's Main to St. Anthony's Waggonway (HER 15339) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
2. (secondary) Waggonway from East Heaton Pit to Lawson's Main (HER 15440) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
3. (primary) Lawson's Main Colliery: strata sunk through in the Delight Pit — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) Lawson Main Colliery (HER 6917) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
5. (primary) Lawson's Main Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21865816: Lawson Main, Low Main, 1872 — British Geological Survey
7. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21905271: Byker and Lawson Main (Bradley, Delight, Kenton, Jane, Jay, Nicholas, Success, St Anthony's, Venture), High Main, 1836 — British Geological Survey

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