Fawdon, coal pits

HER Number:
13773

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Fawdon, coal pits

Place:
Fawdon

Map Sheet:
NZ26NW

Class:
Industrial

Site Type: Broad:
Mine Drainage and Ventilation Site

Site Type: Specific:
Mine Shaft

General Period:
Post Medieval

Specific Period:
C18

Form of Evidence:
Structure

Description:
This area was exploited for mining in the 18th century. A record of Kenton Colliery in 1732 lists five pits on the north side of Kenton on land worked by Mr. Blackett. Corner Pit in Wheat Close was 32 fathoms deep, a pit in First Fattening Pasture was 26 fathoms deep, a pit in Second Fattening Pasture was 27 fathoms deep, a pit in Barker's Close 26 fathoms deep and Caldwell Pit was 27 fathoms deep. The shafts accessed the Main Coal Seam. These fields are shown on an estate map of Kenton dated 1742. Hair (1839) states that pits were sunk in Fawdon from 1810 and were 48 fathoms deep to reach the High Main Seam. No pits are shown in these fields on Ordnance Survey maps but there is a mine shaft in the former Hillsview School field. This was found in 1997. It collapsed in 2000 and was in-filled and fenced off. It is around 51m deep and nearly 2m in diameter.

Easting:
2181

Northing:
6851

Grid Reference:
NZ21816851

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Archaeological Services Durham University, October 2011, Hillsview, Fawdon, Newcastle upon Tyne - archaeological desk-based assessment; T.H. Hair, 1839, Sketches of the Coal Mines in Northumberland and Durham; record of Kenton Colliery in 1732 (held by HER); estate plan of Kenton 1742 (reproduced in Kenton Local History Bulletin 1988