Whitburn Gate Posts and Mining Plaques

This site was added to the South Tyneside local list in 2023. The local list description reads:
'Whitburn, a shaft was sunk in the 1870s in the north of the Whitburn area, and a mining village was built at Marsden. The mine was closed in the 60s, with the village demolished soon after. Throughout this, the Whitburn Lodge remained standing. Part of it, Hope House, was built in the 18th century before the mine as a farmhouse, and when the mine was opened, it was used as the colliery managers’ office. After the mine closed, it was used as a pub but closed in 2012. In feedback from residents, retaining the Lodge has been mentioned often. The Forum also held a workshop to discuss the future of the Whitburn Lodge site, which showed that the majority of residents were in favour of retaining the building. Over the years of being empty, the Lodge building has fallen into disrepair. From meetings with the owners, it was clear that they were not minded to retain the Lodge. The Forum considered asking the council to direct the owners to make repair to the derelict building to improve its appearance, however, the owners said this would be too expensive and a cheaper option would be for them to apply for demolition. Furthermore, the Forum found it difficult to obtain historical information for Hope House, and there was a concern that retaining Hope House would prevent future development of this site. The Forum therefore decided not to include this building as a heritage asset. However, the Whitburn Lodge site has retained another important heritage asset, which are the pit gates and mining plaques that serve as a reminder of where the mine used to be. The old pit gates are the only remainder of the colliery left standing. The history on these gates was provided by the Marsden Banner Group 1, which aims to preserve the mining and industrial heritage in the local area. They have a Lodge Banner on display in Whitburn Library. The old pit gates now form the entrance to the car park for the Whitburn Lodge. They stand in their original position. Former Whitburn pitman and local artist Bob Olley designed two plaques, which were added to the gate posts. Bob Olley is a north east artist who worked as a miner in Whitburn. The plaques show miners at work, and both show the words ‘Whitburn Colliery 1872-1968’.'