Burdon Main Colliery (Collingwood Main)

Burdon Main Colliery. 1st edn OS mapping shows an Old Engine House within the site. Opened in 1811. There were seven pits - A Pit, Chance Pit, Chirton Pit, Engine Pit, Hopewell Pit, Old Pit and West Chirton Pit. The colliery was opened by Messrs Bells, Robson & Co. On opening one of the shafts in 1814 a skeleton of a man was found at a depth of 30 fathoms. The workings extended under the River Tyne to the low water mark. Old Pit and Hopwell Pit were upcast shafts. Coal was taken to the drops at North Shields by an inclined plane. On 17 July 1813 an explosion killed 8 miners. On 19 November 1835 11 were killed. Safety lamps were not used at the mine. The accident was blamed on a 10 year old trapper boy, John Arkley, who had left a door open. Deputy James Campbell's candle ignited the accumulated gas. The inquest was held at the Pineapple public house at Chirton. George Johnson was senior viewer for Burdon Main and Willington Collieries. He was a friend of Nicholas Wood. He prospered later in life with the chemical side of the coal industry.