Usworth Colliery

Overview

A Durham-coalfield colliery at Usworth, west of Sunderland, sunk from April 1845 and worked for almost 130 years until August 1974. It raised gas coal for most of its life, and was the scene of two explosions — thirteen killed in 1850 and forty-two in 1885, the latter set off by shotfiring in a stone drift.

History

Borings were in progress at Usworth in 1815. Sinking began on 7 April 1845 and the colliery opened the same year under G. Elliott, later Sir George Elliot, whose partnerships with J. Johansson held it through the 1840s and 1850s. John Bowes & Partners took it over in 1882, and it passed afterwards through Johansson, Gordon & Co., Leverson's Wallsend Collieries and the Washington Coal Company before nationalisation in 1947. Three further shafts were added over time — the Frederick Pit in 1874, the Victoria in 1910, and the Wellington. The shaft reached the Maudlin at 213 yards and the Hutton at 370 yards, sinking finishing on 22 July 1847, and in 1902 the shafts were taken down from the Hutton to the Busty. In 1894 the colliery worked the Maudlin, Low Main and Hutton, ventilated by a 45-foot Guibal fan and wound by a 300-horsepower engine, and raised about 1,000 tons a day with some 750 men and boys. A pit village of terraces round two three-sided squares grew up east of Little Usworth, with chapels, a post office, a school for 600 children built by the colliery company in 1863 and a miners' hall of 1891, and a wagonway ran to the main line. The engine house was destroyed by fire in 1890.

Two explosions mark the colliery's record. On 5 June 1850 an outburst of gas ignited by a naked light killed thirteen (see Disasters, below). On the evening of 2 March 1885 a build-up of methane was fired by shotfiring in a stone drift, and the resulting coal-dust explosion killed forty-two men and boys (see Disasters, below) and threw hundreds of Usworth miners out of work. In April 1891 an underground boiler burst in the Low Main, killing four (see Disasters, below), and in July 1897 a fall on the engine-plane landing killed a chock drawer and a deputy (see Disasters, below).

The annual returns record plain coal to 1890, gas coal from 1894, steam coal added by 1935 and bunker coal by 1940, when the colliery raised 285,000 tons. The Brockwell was abandoned in 1914 and the Maudlin in 1954. In 1959 Usworth was joined to Follonsby (Wardley No. 1) Colliery by an underground locomotive road, and from 1969 coal was drawn at Wardley while Usworth was used for riding men. It closed on 1 August 1974, and its shafts were filled and covered with concrete caps.

Geology

The colliery worked the Coal Measures of the east Durham coalfield, its 1885 explosion occurring in the Maudlin Seam. The coal was returned as gas quality from the 1890s — the trade that took most of the output from this part of the coalfield — with steam and bunker coals added later as the market changed.

Workings

Sinking began in April 1845, and the colliery worked through several shafts — the west pit, wrecked in the 1885 explosion, the Frederick Pit of 1874, the Victoria of 1910 and the Wellington. The 1885 explosion was in the Maudlin Seam. The colliery's output was returned as gas coal from 1894 onward, with steam and bunker coal added in the twentieth century.

Closure

Closed on 1 August 1974 under the National Coal Board.

What remains

The colliery site has been cleared and built over as part of Washington. Memorials to the men killed in 1885 stand in Holy Trinity churchyard at High Usworth and at Our Blessed Lady in Washington Village, where the Anglican and Roman Catholic dead were buried separately.

No colliery structures survive; the filled shafts were covered with concrete caps. Two churchyard memorials to the 1885 dead.

Related mines

• Felling Colliery — Collieries of Sir George Elliot.
• Follonsby Colliery — From 1959 the Follonsby shaft (Wardley No. 1) was linked with Usworth Colliery by an underground locomotive road.
• Nettlesworth Colliery — Collieries of Sir George Elliot.
• Oxclose Colliery — Both held in the 1840s and 1850s by George Elliott's partnership with Johansson.
• Pen-y-fan Colliery — Collieries of Sir George Elliot.
• Penshaw Colliery — Collieries held by Sir George Elliot, who worked Penshaw from the 1860s.
• Sacriston Colliery — Collieries of Sir George Elliot.
• Wardley Colliery — After the 1959 merger with Follonsby the two shared a Washington Coal Company/NCB unit; in 1969 Wardley was used for drawing coal and Usworth for riding men.
• Washington Colliery — Both were held by the Washington Coal Company.
• Washington F Pit — Both were held by the Washington Coal Company.
• Washington Glebe Colliery — Both owned by the Washington Coal Company.

Disasters & major incidents

• Usworth Colliery explosion, 1850
  5 June 1850 · Explosion · 13 fatalities
  A large blower of gas burst from the Bensham seam in Wellington Pit, Usworth, on the morning of 5 June 1850 and ignited at a candle, killing twelve men and a boy. Nearly 160 people were underground, working by naked light, and the damage to the workings was slight.
• Usworth Colliery explosion, 1855
  24 August 1855 · Explosion · 2 fatalities
  On 24 August 1855 two experienced deputy overmen were killed by an explosion of gas at Usworth Colliery, in County Durham.
• Usworth Colliery Explosion, 1885
  2 March 1885 · Explosion · 42 fatalities
  At 8.58 on the evening of Monday 2 March 1885, methane that had built up in a stone drift at Usworth Colliery was ignited by shotfiring. The coal dust, gas and air explosion that followed killed forty men outright; two more died of afterdamp while trying to reach them. Hundreds of Usworth miners were suddenly out of work.
• Usworth Colliery boiler explosion, 1891
  11 April 1891 · Machinery · 4 fatalities
  On 11 April 1891 an underground boiler exploded at Usworth Colliery, in County Durham, killing three men outright and a fourth later, after years of known corrosion had been left unmeasured.
• Usworth Colliery fall of ground, 1897
  6 July 1897 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 2 fatalities
  On 6 July 1897 a chock drawer and a deputy were buried and killed by a sudden fall of ground on the engine-plane landing at Usworth Colliery, in County Durham.
• Usworth Colliery gassing, 1940
  5 April 1940 · Gas / Asphyxiation · 2 fatalities
  On 5 April 1940 two fillers were accidentally gassed and killed at Usworth Colliery, in County Durham.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The Frederick Pit opened in 1874 and the Victoria Pit in 1910; a Wellington Pit is also recorded. (disputed) ¹
• The Frederick Pit worked from 1815 to 1914, and the Victoria and Wellington from 1845 to 1974. (disputed) ⁴

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking began on 7 April 1845 and the colliery opened that year. ¹
• The Frederick Pit opened in 1874 and the Victoria Pit in 1910; a Wellington Pit is also recorded. (disputed) ¹
• The colliery's returns record gas coal from 1894, with steam coal added by 1935 and bunker coal by 1940, when output was 285,000 tons. ¹
• The colliery closed on 1 August 1974. ¹
• The explosion of 2 March 1885 killed forty-two and threw hundreds of Usworth miners out of work; the Anglican dead were buried at Holy Trinity, High Usworth, and the Roman Catholic dead at Our Lady's, Washington Village, where memorials stand. ^1,2
• The shaft, begun on 7 April 1845, reached the Maudlin at 213 yards and the Hutton at 370 yards, sinking finishing on 22 July 1847; in 1902 the shafts were sunk from the Hutton to the Busty. ^1,3
• In 1894 Usworth worked the Maudlin, Low Main and Hutton, ventilated by a 45-foot Guibal fan, and raised about 1,000 tons a day with about 750 men and boys. ^1,4
• The colliery village had terraces round two three-sided squares, chapels, a post office, a school for 600 children built in 1863 and a miners' hall of 1891, with a wagonway to the main line. ^1,4
• The engine house was destroyed by fire in 1890. ^1,4
• The Brockwell was abandoned in 1914 and the Maudlin in 1954. ^1,4
• In 1959 Usworth was joined to Follonsby Colliery by an underground locomotive road; from 1969 coal was drawn at Wardley and Usworth was used for riding men. ^1,4
• After the colliery closed in 1974 its shafts were filled in and covered with concrete caps. ⁵
• The Frederick Pit was the downcast shaft, used for riding men, and the Victoria Pit the upcast; the Wellington was a third shaft. ⁶
• The Frederick Pit worked from 1815 to 1914, and the Victoria and Wellington from 1845 to 1974. (disputed) ⁴
• Plans of Usworth's Maudlin workings were deposited as abandoned in 1954. ⁷

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Usworth Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) The Usworth Colliery Disaster, 2nd March 1885 — Raggy Spelk: Washington, County Durham
3. (primary) Usworth Colliery: strata sunk through, 1845-1847 — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) Usworth Colliery (HER 365) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
5. (secondary) Washingtondocs - Usworth Colliery — Washingtondocs
6. (secondary) Usworth Colliery Photo Gallery — Raggy Spelk
7. (primary) BGS mine plan: Usworth, Maudlin, abandoned 1954 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 5 October 2026