Backworth Colliery, Eccles Pit

HER Number:
6906

District:
N Tyneside

Site Name:
Backworth Colliery, Eccles Pit

Place:
Backworth

Map Sheet:
NZ37SW

Class:
Industrial

Site Type: Broad:
Coal Mining Site

Site Type: Specific:
Colliery

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C20

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
Opened in July 1905. Sinking was complete and coal was produced in 1907. The Eccles is the deepest of the Backworth pits. James Batty was in charge in 1907. in 1927 mechanical mining started at the Maude, Eccles and Algernon Pits, displacing pit ponies. Eleven injured, with four dying later after a gas explosion in 1928. The pit head baths for the Maude and Eccles pits opened February 15th 1930. Three men died (T. Chater, T. Livingstone and T. Anderson) after an explosion in April 1922. Shown on Ordnance Survey third edition.

Easting:
3070

Northing:
7178

Grid Reference:
NZ30707178

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Third edition Ordnance Survey map 1919; http://www.dmm.org.uk; Roy Thompson, 2004, Thunder Underground - Northumberland Mine Disasters 1815-65, photo on p 22; Shiremoor Local History Group, The history of Backworth Colliery (in HER 2010/147); Archaeological Services Durham University, 2018, Eccleston Close Backworth, heritage assessment