Abbey Shot Factory

Abbey Shot Factory, on the site of the former Earsdon Colliery, Duke and Dutchess Pit, (HER 1111) and was served by the Backworth Colliery Railway, Church Pit Branch, (HER 2171). Opened during the 1890s. Lead shot is made by pouring molten lead through a sieve and letting it fall far enough so that the metal cools and forms into spheres which are caught in sand. There was no shot tower here, instead the old mine shafts were used. The works had their own sidings to supply coal to the melting furnaces and to take the finished product away. The works probably closed during the depression.