Seaham Incline
Seaham Colliery was commenced in 1846 by the third Marquis of Londonderry. Seaton Colliery, in close proximity, was formerly worked by Lord Durham and the Hetton Coal Company, are now worked as one. Here there are at present being wrought the Harvey seam, the Main coal, the Maudlin, the Hutton Jubilee, Hutton No. 2, and Hutton No. 3 ; the Harvey in the lowest seam being 282 fathoms deep to the shaft bottom, and 300 fathoms to the lowest point. This seam is 3 feet thick. The Main coal if 5 feet thick. The Maudlin, 4 feet, and the Low Main run together, and are only separated by a thin band, which, however, assumes a considerable division a long distance eastwards. Their depth is about 245 feet. The Hutton Jubilee got its names from the fact of having been reached through a great fault, after three years' cutting in the Jubilee year (1887). This seam is 265 fathoms deep, and varies from 3 feet 6 inches to 4 feet 6 inches thick. There is a Low Main of this same seam, having a thickness of 5 feet. To the eastward the Maudlin, the Hutton Jubilee, the Nos. 2 and 3 are worked for a considerable distance under the sea. The Hutton No. 2, by a fault or trouble, which occurs near the pit shaft, is thrown down below the level of the Harvey, and the whole strata is affected by this fault. The old system of ventilation by furnaces is still in use here. This is a very extensive colliery, giving employment to about 1700 men and boys, which is a great number, considering there are no coke ovens here. The output, which amounts to between 2500 and 2800 tons per day, is nearly all shipped at Seaham Harbour and Sunderland Docks, a small portion only being sold at land sales. Miners' Hall is a handsome brick building with stone facings, erected in 1889, at a cost of £2000. It comprises a large lecture hall, capable of holding 750 persons, offices, committee and reading rooms, and is well supplied with daily and weekly papers, &c.
Reproduced with permission from Geoff's Rail Pages copyright G A Cryer.
The incline today
