Newbottle Colliery, Dorothea Pit

HER Number:
3123

District:
Sunderland

Site Name:
Newbottle Colliery, Dorothea Pit

Place:
Newbottle

Map Sheet:
NZ35SW

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:
Newbottle Colliery, Dorothea Pit. Newbottle Colliery was opened in 1816 and closed in 1956. There were several other pits - Dolly Pit (sunk in 1811), Elizabeth Pit (HER 3136), Margaret Pit (HER 3126) and Success Pit (HER 3127). The colliery was opened by the Nesham family, then taken over in 1819 by the Earl of Durham, and in 1896 by Lambton Colleries Ltd, then Lambton, Hetton and Joicey Colleries Ltd and from 1947 by the National Coal Board. The colleries were linked by 18 miles of private railways. There were several disasters - an explosion on 2 June 1815 killed 57, a boiler burst on 7 August 1815, killing 11. There were explosions on 19 October 1821 (killed 6 miners), 19 November 1824 (killed 11) and 15 June 1832 (killed 12). There is a plaque on a stone wall marking the location of the shaft.

Easting:
3353

Northing:
5237

Grid Reference:
NZ33535237

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 3123 >> 1st edition Ordnance Survey Map, c.1855, 6 inch scale, Durham, 13; Durham Mining Museum, www.dmm.org.uk; Whellan, 1894, Directory of County Durham;