Monkwearmouth, Wearmouth Colliery (Pemberton Main)

HER Number:
2743

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Monkwearmouth, Wearmouth Colliery (Pemberton Main)

Place:
Monkwearmouth

Map Sheet:
NZ35NE

Class:
Industrial

Site Type: Broad:
Coal Mining Site

Site Type: Specific:
Colliery

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
Sunk from 1826 to 1834 to a depth of 1578 feet Wearmouth was one of the pioneering deep mines which penetrated the magnesian limestone strata of the area. It was the deepest mine in the world when it started producing coal in 1835, and was probably the last mine to have a single-cylinder vertical winding engine installed (in 1868). Steam was used at the mine until the 1950s. The 1st edition Ordnance Survey plan shows the colliery linked to Pembertons Drops by a wagonway (HER ref. 2746 and 2745). The mine was still in operation in 1985, having been modernised in the 1960s. Several important 19th century features, including two stone-built horizontal winding engine houses, a heapstead, workshop range and offices survived until the site was demolished for the Stadium of Light Football Ground.

Easting:
3930

Northing:
5798

Grid Reference:
NZ39305798

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 2743 >> 1st edition Ordnance Survey Map, c.1855, 6 inch scale, Durham, 8 N.T. Sinclair in Milburn & Miller, (eds) 1988, Sunderland, River, Town & People, Industry to 1914, p.23 Tyne and Wear Industrial Monuments Trust, 1978, Sites of Interest in River Wear plan area English Heritage, Monuments Protection Program, Site Assessment I. Ayris & S.M. Linsley, 1994, A Guide to the Industrial Archaeology of Tyne and Wear, p 41 Monkwearmouth College students, 1977, Monkwearmouth Colliery in 1851 booklet; F. Atkinson, 1980, North East England - People at Work 1860-1950; N. Emery, 1998, Banners of the Durham Coalfield; D. Temple, 1994, The Colleries of County Durham; www.dmm.org.uk; Whellan, 1894, Directory of County Durham