Shire Moor Colliery

Overview

The colliery of Shiremoor, on the old common of the manor of Tynemouth, worked by 1764 and later by the Shiremoor Coal Company, whose Blue Bell Pit employed 380 people in 1894. Backworth Collieries bought it in 1896 and tried the first electric coal-cutter at the Blue Bell in 1902; the pit closed in 1915.

History

Shiremoor was Tynemouth Shire Moor, the common of the manor of Tynemouth, and coal was already being mined there before it was enclosed in 1790; the village grew up in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to house the miners of its pits. Plans of old Tynemouth Shire Moor workings date from 1764, and a general plan of 1788 shows old shafts and water levels in the High Main seam across Backworth, Earsdon, Murton and Tynemouth parishes. The Farewell Pit appears on the enclosure map of 1790 and the John Pit on the first edition Ordnance Survey. About 1820 the Shiremoor Coal Company sank a pumping shaft, later the Algernon Pit, and put a beam engine on it in 1875.

In the 1880s the Shire Moor Coal Company's manager was A. M. Potter, and by 1894 Edward T. Cheesman; that year the colliery raised steam coal and employed 380 people, 308 of them below ground. Its Blue Bell Pit was linked to the North Eastern Railway through the Blyth and Tyne branch. In 1896 Backworth Collieries bought the colliery from the Shiremoor Coal Company, deepened the Algernon shaft and turned it over to coal winding. In 1902 the first electric coal-cutter was tried out at the Blue Bell Pit. The Blue Bell closed in 1915, its Main and Yard seam workings abandoned on 28 May that year, and the Algernon worked on as part of Backworth Colliery.

Geology

Northumberland coalfield: the High Main, Main, Yard and Bensham seams.

Workings

The Farewell Pit (by 1790), the John Pit, the Blue Bell Pit, and a pumping shaft of about 1820 that became the Algernon Pit; a branch to the Blyth and Tyne railway.

Closure

The Blue Bell Pit closed in 1915, its workings abandoned on 28 May 1915; the Algernon Pit carried on as part of Backworth Colliery.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Backworth Colliery — Backworth bought Shire Moor Colliery in 1896; its Algernon and Blue Bell pits then worked as part of Backworth.
• West Holywell Colliery — Both were owned by the Backworth Colliery Company, which bought Shire Moor in 1896.

Recorded claims

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

• Shiremoor, the common of the manor of Tynemouth enclosed in 1790, was already mined by then, and the village grew up to house the miners of its pits. ¹
• Plans of old workings at Tynemouth Shire Moor date from 1764, and a plan of 1788 shows old shafts and water levels in the High Main. ²
• In 1894 Shire Moor Colliery raised steam coal and employed 380 people, 308 below ground. ³
• Backworth Collieries bought the colliery from the Shiremoor Coal Company in 1896. ^4,5
• The Algernon Pit was opened about 1820 as a Shiremoor Coal Company pumping shaft, given a beam engine in 1875, and deepened for coal winding by the Backworth company after 1896. ⁵
• The first electric coal-cutter was tried out at the Blue Bell Pit in 1902; the pit closed in 1915. ⁴
• The Farewell Pit is shown on the Shiremoor enclosure map of 1790 and the John Pit on the first edition Ordnance Survey. ^6,7
• The Main seam workings of the Shiremoor or Backworth Algernon, Blue Bell and Murton pits were abandoned on 28 May 1915. ⁸

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Shiremoor — Wikipedia
2. (primary) Shire Moor Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Shire Moor Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) Shiremoor Colliery (Blue Bell Pit) (HER 2192) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
5. (secondary) Backworth Colliery, Algernon Pit (HER 2177) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
6. (secondary) Shiremoor, John Pit (HER 1147) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
7. (secondary) Shiremoor, Farewell Pit (HER 15450) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
8. (primary) BGS mine plan: Shiremoor or Backworth Algernon, Blue Bell, Murton C and D, Main seam, abandoned 28 May 1915 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

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