Winlaton Colliery

Overview

The medieval and Tudor colliery of the manor of Winlaton, which sent coal to Windsor Castle in the 14th century and became the first systematically developed colliery on Tyneside under the Blunt, Scrivener and Selby partners before its coal ran out in the 17th century.

History

Winlaton Colliery was the coal of the manor of Winlaton, in Gateshead, worked from Winlaton Hill. In the 1360s coal from Winlaton was bought for Edward III's works at Windsor Castle, to burn lime: the heritage record gives 576 chaldrons in 1366-7, and a local history gives 600 tons in 1357. The coal went by pack horse to Blaydon or Stella, in 33 keels to Newcastle and then by collier to London. Two pits were leased in 1425, probably on the west of the hilltop and sunk to the Hutton seam; a local account names them the Fullay and Marley pits.

Although the land was twice divided among the lords of the manor, the coal was never shared out and was worked as a single Winlaton Colliery. In 1551 Cuthbert Blunt, Richard Hodgson and others took a 30-year lease, and coal was worked south of the main fault on Snookhill, in the Westfield and in the Upper Lands: the first systematic development of a colliery on Tyneside rather than a scatter of small workings. An adit, the Watergate in Garesfield Lane, drained it. Accounts of 1582 show the principal partner was Barbara Blunt-Scrivener, daughter of the coal magnate James Lawson, who had her own river port on the Derwent at Swalwell Ford, while most Winlaton coal went to Blaydon staiths. A lawsuit of 1587 describes four shafts, a viewer, tallies for the coal, labourers put in the stocks for negligence, and women working underground for want of men.

Her nephew William Selby, MP and the leading coalowner of his day, took over, sank new pits in the 1580s and in 1605 handed the business to his son George, who sub-let it. Output may have reached 1,200 tens a year by 1603, but by Sir George Selby's death in 1625 most of the coal was gone, and Winlaton was being overtaken by the Whickham and Stella Grand Leases. Pits were sunk at Shibdon in 1643 and Stampley Moss in 1648, and in 1675 Sir William Blackett bought Selby's share of the coal.

Geology

The Hutton and other seams of Winlaton Hill, broken by a west-east fault into sunken blocks.

Workings

Many pits across Winlaton Hill, including two leased in 1425 and four shafts in 1587, drained by the Watergate adit.

Closure

Most of the coal had been worked out by 1625; later pits at Shibdon (1643) and Stampley Moss (1648) never restored its scale.

What remains

Unknown.

What's uncertain

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

• In 1366-7 Winlaton provided Edward III with 576 chaldrons of coal for works at Windsor Castle. (disputed) ^1,2,3
• In 1357 about 600 tons of coal were bought from the manor of Winlaton to burn lime for alterations at Windsor Castle. (disputed) ⁴

Recorded claims

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

• In 1366-7 Winlaton provided Edward III with 576 chaldrons of coal for works at Windsor Castle. (disputed) ^1,2,3
• In 1357 about 600 tons of coal were bought from the manor of Winlaton to burn lime for alterations at Windsor Castle. (disputed) ⁴
• Two pits were leased at Winlaton in 1425. ^2,4
• In 1551 Cuthbert Blunt, Richard Hodgson and others took a 30-year lease of the Winlaton coal, the first systematic development of a colliery on Tyneside. ^1,2
• Accounts of 1582 show the principal partner in Winlaton Colliery was Barbara Blunt-Scrivener, daughter of James Lawson. ²
• A lawsuit of 1587 records women working underground at Winlaton for want of men, and four shafts. ⁴
• In 1675 Sir William Blackett acquired Selby's share of the Winlaton coal. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Winlaton Colliery (HER 633) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
2. (secondary) Winlaton, medieval coal mine (HER 13576) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
3. (secondary) Brief History of Winlaton — Winlaton Local History Society
4. (secondary) The Winlaton Story, Part 3: Early Coal Mining (R. Anderson, 1970) — GENUKI

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