Walker Colliery

Overview

One of the oldest deep collieries on the Tyne, opened at Walker in 1762 with horse winding and among the first to take steam winding and a Watt pumping engine, worked out of its High Main by 1811 and kept going on poorer seams until about 1920.

History

Walker Colliery, on the north bank of the Tyne east of Newcastle, began with the West Engine Pit, which opened in January 1762 and reached coal at 600 feet. It was wound by eight horses, raising a corf of coal in two minutes; in 1769 the horses were partly replaced by steam, the early steam winder was then replaced by a water gin, and in 1784 a rotative steam engine was installed, with a James Watt pumping engine following in 1796. Further pits followed: the Jane Pit from 1790, the King Pit from 1794, the Charlotte Pit from 1801, and the Ann and East pits. By 1795 only creep-damaged pillars of coal were left in the High Main seam, and by 1811 it was exhausted. In 1842, when the High Main was abandoned and tubbed off at Tyne Main, Walker's owners joined those of Felling, Wallsend, Willington and Heaton in paying to keep the great Friar's Goose pumping engine at work. The colliery's disasters began early: explosions killed eight in April 1765 and ten in March 1766, and a fall of stones killed six in June 1823. On 22 November 1862, the day after the lower furnace had been damped down so that a shaft could be retubbed, an explosion killed sixteen of the twenty-eight men sent down to blast at a geological fault; a faulty lamp was blamed. Owned by Lambert and Company in the 1850s, N. G. Lambert and Company in the 1860s and the Walker Coal Company Ltd from the 1890s, it worked the Low Main at 165 fathoms, the Beaumont at 190 and the Brockwell at 206 in 1887; on 24 October 1887 an explosion in the Brockwell killed eight (see Disasters, below). Employment peaked at 1,312 in 1905. The Bensham, Low Main, Beaumont and Brockwell seams were abandoned in 1919 and the High Main in 1920, and the colliery closed about then.

Geology

The High Main seam, worked out by 1811, then the Bensham, Low Main (165 fathoms), Beaumont (190 fathoms), Busty and Brockwell (206 fathoms) seams.

Workings

The West Engine Pit (1762) and the Jane, King, Charlotte, Ann and East pits; horse winding replaced by steam from 1769, a rotative engine in 1784 and a Watt pumping engine in 1796. In 1887 the Ann Pit was the downcast and coal-drawing shaft, the Jane Pit an upcast with a Guibal fan.

Closure

The Tyne and Wear HER gives both 1918 and 1920 for the end of working and DMM 1920; the Bensham, Low Main, Beaumont and Brockwell seams were abandoned in 1919 and the High Main in 1920.

What remains

The colliery has gone; the Tyne and Wear HER records the B Pit only as an old shaft on the second edition Ordnance Survey map.

A square-column monument with an urn, erected by the colliery to the eight men killed at the Ann Pit in October 1887, stands at Christ Church, Walker.

Related mines

• Felling Colliery — From 1842 both collieries' owners shared the cost of the Friar's Goose pumping engine to keep water from reaching the dip workings.
• Wallsend Colliery — From 1842 both collieries' owners shared the cost of the Friar's Goose pumping engine to keep water from reaching the dip workings.

Nearby mines

• Wallsend Colliery — 2.3 km NE
• Felling Colliery — 2.9 km SW
• Rising Sun Colliery — 3.7 km N
• Redheugh Colliery — 5.3 km W
• Sheriff Hill Colliery — 5.4 km S

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

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 Tyne and Wear HER says the colliery lasted until 1918 and, in the same entry, that it closed in 1920; DMM gives 1920 and records seams abandoned in 1919 and 1920. (disputed) ^2,1

Recorded claims

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

• The West Engine Pit opened in January 1762, reaching coal at 600 feet, wound by eight horses; steam partly replaced them in 1769, a rotative engine came in 1784 and a Watt pumping engine in 1796. ¹
• By 1795 only creep-affected pillars were left in the High Main seam, exhausted by 1811; the colliery then worked lower, poorer seams. ¹
• From 1842 Walker's owners contributed, with Felling, Wallsend, Willington and Heaton, to keeping the Friar's Goose pumping engine at work. ²
• Explosions killed 8 in 1765, 10 in 1766, 16 in 1862 and 8 in 1887; a fall of stones killed 6 in 1823. ^2,1,3,4
• The Tyne and Wear HER says the colliery lasted until 1918 and, in the same entry, that it closed in 1920; DMM gives 1920 and records seams abandoned in 1919 and 1920. (disputed) ^2,1
• A square-column monument with an urn at Christ Church, erected by the colliery, commemorates the eight men killed at the Ann Pit in October 1887. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Walker Colliery B Pit (HER 4206) — Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record (Sitelines)
2. (secondary) Walker Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Walker Colliery Explosion – Walker – 1887 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (secondary) Disasters – Names: Walker, 22nd November 1862 — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) Christ Church, monument to Walker Colliery disaster (HER 13244) — Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record (Sitelines)

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026