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Marley Hill
Marley Hill
At the start of the Twentieth Century there was a thriving industrial community in Marley Hill, with two collieries and a coke works with chemical works.
Marley Hill Colliery
Marley Hill Colliery
Coal had been mined in the area as early as the fifteenth century. Marley Hill Pit was in production by 1760. There was a break in production from about 1814 when it was abandoned as unproductive then reopened in1840.
Marley Hill Banner
The original shafts at Marley Hill were sunk to a depth of 550 feet to win coal from the Brockwell seam. Eventually these were extended more than two miles from the shaft. After geological difficulties in the Brockwell seam, two mechanised faces were established. The 7 feet thick Hutton seam and the 5 feet Busty seam were worked by pneumatic picks. The 2 feet 3 inch Tilly seam was developed and mechanised output began in 1970. Marley Hill Colliery employed 850 men, 700 worked underground.
From the end of 1981 there had been a run down in production leading to two thirds of the men being transferred to other mines.
It finally ceased production in 1983. In March that year, almost half of the staff were either moved to other areas or made redundant. A skeleton staff (of 160) was left to salvage materials for use in other mines. Of the thirteen pit ponies, ten were sent to rest homes or "adopted" by families while the remainder continued their working life at Sacriston Colliery
The colliery was situated to the south of the main road now running through Marley Hill and was Gateshead's last working colliery.
Clockburn Drift
The drift opened in 1952 between Winlaton Mill and Marley Hill Colliery, and coal was brought out near Winlaton Mill from where it was taken by rail to nearby Derwenthaugh coke works. It closed with Marley Hill pit in 1983.
Andrew's Houses Pit
Like Marley Hill Colliery there is evidence of early mining. This was within half a mile south of Marley Hill. Coal mining on a large scale stopped in the late 1770's, but was renewed in 1839. The colliery had many owners until its closure in 1921. It was dismantled in the late 1920's but it was not until the 1980's that the shaft was finally filled in.
Marley Hill Coke Works
These were situated to the west of Marley Hill Pit. In 1848 there were 330 bee hive ovens but by 1902 only 210 were in production. In 1907 sixty Hussener by - product ovens were built. These were known as the "German Ovens". In 1929 the coke was sold as Marley Hill Wytot graded nuts and exported to Canada, USA, Argentine, Australia, China and Europe. The Coke works ceased production in 1937.
Marley Hill Chemical Company
These were opened to process the by-products of the Coke Works and were situated immediately to the north. They produced benzole, sulphate of ammonia, coal tar and creosote. They closed in 1937 with the loss of 250 jobs.
Blackburn Fell Drift
Blackburn Fell Drift, located south of Sunniside, was opened in 1937 and closed in 1979.
Blackburn Fell Drift
This drift mine on the open fell south of Sunniside had an incline of 1 in 12 and the Black Fell seam was worked 150 feet down by means of pneumatic picks. 250 men were employed and they produced 70,000 tons of coal per year. There were also many pit ponies working, some stabled underground and some on the surface. The underground workings reached almost as far as the Ravensworth Estate to the east and Beamish to the south.