Coal Mining in County Durham in 1725

Transcription

1 Coal Mining in County Durham in 1725 by Jane Hatcher A rare glimpse of some details of early Georgian coal mining in County Durham is provided by the diary (1) of Edward Harley, the 2nd Earl of Oxford ( ). He travelled through England's northern counties in the year 1725, on a journey from Ware in Hertfordshire to Dupplin Castle near Perth in Scotland, in order to inspect his extensive estates scattered here and there. Nevertheless it was clearly something of a holiday, and he was able to indulge his interest in historical subjects. He and his father Robert, the 1st Earl ( ), were responsible for amassing an important collection of papers of antiquarian interest, known as the Harleian manuscripts from their surname Harley, which were purchased for the British Museum for the use of the nation by authority of Parliament, and are now in the British Library. Lord Oxford was not travelling through County Durham alone, but in a congenial group of about a dozen. There was John Morley of Halstead in Essex, a gentleman friend of a slightly lesser social rank than himself, and Rev. T. Thompson, his chaplain, who actually did the work of writing up the diary, plus a team of servants including a cook and grooms. The grooms were needed to look after the even larger number of horses they had with them. The gentlemen were travelling in a coach drawn by six horses, and they also had 11 other horses including some to ride on short expeditions and others to carry their considerable baggage. They were travelling in the Spring of the year, and after a sojourn in York seeing the sights there, the party made its way north to Darlington. After a night in Darlington, they set off at 7am towards Durham, via Bishop Auckland. Here is his account of the southward travelling pack horse train they encountered at Cockerton on 3rd May:

2 "We met all this way several parcels of horses laden with sacks of coal, two on each horse. These they call gangs of horses, though there are several asses amongst them, but the horses and they were so very like that they might well pass without any distinction. Each of these sacks holds generally somewhat more than a bushel, the best is brought from Etherley colliery, ten miles from Darlington, and is there delivered at twopence halfpenny per bushel, which is sold at Darlington for eight pence." It is interesting to get confirmation that each of the two sacks in panniers on the pack animal s saddle held just over a bushel of coal, a bushel being a measure of volume of dry goods, often grain, of 8 gallons. The record is also valuable in providing the mark up, for transport between Etherley (west of Bishop Auckland) and Darlington plus trading profit, of 5½d. Etherley colliery was in the area where coal could be mined through relatively shallow pits, hence its exploitation at this early date. Being down towards the southern end of County Durham, it was particularly known for supplying North Yorkshire with the good quality household coal starting to be in demand as people installed more fireplaces in their houses. The diary continues At Shildon a little way from Heighington we pass by the first coal pits I have seen; one of them belonging to Francis Crows, a freeholder of Shildon, in a field on the right hand side of the road; and on the other side of the hedge by the roadside there was another pit just sunk by another proprietor, which was on purpose to have an eye on his neighbour, Crows, whom he suspected would be invading his property, and in a very literal sense undermining him. After spending a day in Bishop Auckland, visiting what was then the country palace of the Bishop of Durham, seeing Bishop Cosin s Library in Durham (now part of

3 Durham University Library s building on Palace Green), Chester le Street and Lumley Castle, the account of coal mining resumes on 5th May, and becomes quite technical, describing the primitive beam engine being used for pumping water out of a pit. This was then very rare, as deeper pits were only starting to be sunk. "From Chester we go about half a mile to the left where is a very large fire engine for draining the coal pits there. The boiler holds eighty hogsheads. The fire stove consumes five fothers, or sixty bushels of coals, in twenty four hours. The brass barrel or cylinder is nine feet long. Its diameter two feet four inches. Thickness of the brass one inch and a half. From the surface of the ground to the bottom of the water is twenty four fathoms or forty eight yards. The water in the pit is two yards deep. From the surface of the water to the drift or level where the engine forces it out is twelve fathoms. It discharges two hundred and fifty hogsheads in one hour, it strikes or makes a discharge fourteen times in one minute. "In the same place are two other engines for draining, called Bob gins, and are moved by water turning a wheel. They all belong to Mr. Headworth, Dean of the Church, and Mr. Allan. The weekly expense of these engines of 5 paid by the owners of the colliery to Mr. Potter the undertaker of the fire engine, the owners allowing whatever coals are expended." The technical detail then turns to waggon ways, also at that time something of a novelty. "Coming from this engine towards Newcastle we pass over two way leaves which cross the great road. These way leaves are an artificial road made for the conveyance of coal from the Pit to the Steaths on the riverside; whereby one horse shall carry a greater burden than a whole team on a common way, and as they generally pass through the grounds of several proprietors, are very expensive to the

4 coal owners, who pay very high prices for their trespass on that occasion. The nearest to Chester is a single one and belongs to Mr. Allan s colliery, the other about half a mile further is a double one, and belongs to Dean Headworth; the loaded cart goes upon one, and the empty one returns upon the other. The whole length of these two way leaves from the coal pits to the place from whence the coals are loaded into the lighters or keels at Sunderland is five miles." Their journey continued on to Newcastle, the most populous and busy town I have ever seen excepting London, and on 7th May picks up the description of coal mining history. "Several steaths, being the places where the coals are brought to in order to be shipped off from the coal pits, are on each side of the river close upon the banks; those that are covered with timber work are called trunks. From these steaths or trunks the fillers take it off in lighters (here called keels) and carry it down to ships, which lie chiefly about Shields. There were many of these keels dispersed on the river, but few or no ships at this time. Each keel contains eight chaldrons, which is equal to sixteen of the London chaldrons. There are just 800 of them in all upon the river, and every keel employs four men." Finally, Lord Oxford thoughtfully gives a list of the terms used in the early Georgian coal trade. "The breaking of the ground to come at the coals they call sinking the pit; when they have sunk it till they come at the bed of coals, they are then said to have won the colliery. That pit through which they bring up the coal and is sometimes 30, 40, 50, 60 etc. fathoms deep is called the shaft. The lining of it with wood in order to hinder it from falling in, is timbering of it. The baskets in which the coal is brought up to the mouth of the pit, are the [here the transcriber has left a space, the likely word corves presumably being unreadable]. The chief workman that stands at the mouth

5 of the pit to overlook the other labourers above ground is the upper overman; he that is the foreman under ground, is the under overman. The coal at the mouth of the pit (where it is disposed round about) is loaded into the wagons for that purpose, and brought on the wayleaves to the steathes, from whence it is taken away by the fillers who buy it at the steathes and carry it down to the keels to be laded into the ships." The tour then continued up into Scotland. They returned by the west coast of Scotland, and came back into England via Carlisle, Penrith and Appleby finding Stainmoor a difficult route to Barnard Castle, and so into North Yorkshire. It is interesting to note that twenty years later the 2nd Earl s wife, by then the dowager Countess of Oxford, kept a diary (2) of a similar journey north. She was, however, typical of her gender, and was much more interested in grand houses, and their contents and gardens, than in industrial subjects. She had estates in Newcastleupon Tyne and elsewhere in Northumberland, and her visits included a colliery she owned in Jesmond, but no details are given. (1) Published as The Journey in England by Lord Harley, later 2nd Earl of Oxford, Report on the Manuscripts of the Duke of Portland at Welbeck Abbey, Historical Manuscripts Commission, vol. vi, (1901), pp (2) As above, pp Note: The views that are expressed on the website are the contributors own and not necessarily those of Durham County Council. This is a community website so no guarantee can be given of the historical accuracy of individual contributions

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