Research Projects

by Jane Hatcher

General Background History

Before Bowburn became a mining village, it was only a small hamlet. The place-name Bowburn means a winding stream, and describes the two tight loops in the Bowburn Beck (1). The name Bowburn can also be broken down into two components based on Old English words, boga, meaning ‘the bow’, and burna, a spring, brook or stream, giving a description of stream with bow-shaped curves (2). The Bowburn Beck was a significant boundary, marked on old maps not only as separating Rural Districts, but even Parliamentary Divisions! Bowburn was also a crossing point on the Bowburn Beck, for it was crossed here by Bowburn Bridge.

The 1st edition of the 6 inch Ordnance Survey Map shows Bowburn as a small hamlet on the Durham to Stockton turnpike road. The Hare and Hounds Public House is marked, also Bowburn House, a large stone-built farmhouse (3). Just south of Bowburn Bridge the map shows the Crow Trees Toll Gate on the Durham to Stockton turnpike road. The opening of the colliery early in the 20th century led to streets of colliery houses being built. A trades directory of 1910 (4) describes Bowburn as a colliery village of about 400 inhabitants, with a Wesleyan Chapel erected in 1910, and an iron Primitive Methodist Chapel built in 1908. A Public Elementary School had been built in 1909 for 300 ‘mixed’ and 150 ‘infant’ children. The directory lists 12 entries, two of which relate to Bowburn colliery.

The 1923 edition of the map shows Bowburn as a much larger settlement. Terrace houses, including Steavenson Street, have been built on the east side of the road at the southern end of the settlement, with schools. On the west side of the road are now the two Methodist Chapels, and the Wheat Sheaf Inn. Further south is the Pit Laddie Inn. Further terraces are under course of construction in the Bow Street area. On a lighter note, a new feature has appeared to the north-west, Shincliffe Race Course! By 1938 a trades directory (5) lists 25 commercial entries.

After World War II there was a spate of new building, and a large council housing estate was erected (6). To serve this area, a new Anglican Church was built 1963-78, the Church of Christ the King. The architect was Harold Wharfe, a senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne School of Architecture. The design was very modern, even futuristic, with a glass-fibre geodesic dome sitting on concrete panel walls, and an eye-catching free-standing spire-cum-cross like the tail of diving whale. The church interior is lit by triangular openings at the base of the dome, and timber boarding was stained in rainbow colours symbolic of the post-Flood covenant (7). The church was designed to be built cheaply, mainly by the community, and unfortunately constructional shortcomings have led to water penetration with has had serious structural implications. These have led to the church having to be demolished and rebuilt. It is ironic that the church had not yet been completed when the colliery was closed in 1967.

Mining History

An attempt was made to mine coal in the Bowburn area in the 1840s, with a pit near the Coxhoe terminus of the Durham City Branch of the Clarence Railway. It was worked for a time by Robson and Jackson, and then by the West Hetton Coal Company, taking coal from the Main and Five Quarter seams, before the mine was abandoned in 1857 (8). The 1856 map shows small mines at Heugh Hall Colliery at Old Quarrington, and West Hetton Colliery. Other industrial activity shown in the vicinity are Quarrington Brick Works and Crow Trees Tile Works, as well as the railway line which runs due north-south immediately west of Bowburn.

The second Bowburn Colliery was begun in 1906 by Bell Brothers, who had other mines nearby. The first coal was drawn in 1908 (9). A double-horizontal steam winding engine, built by the Airdrie Iron Company Ltd., was installed to serve the Busty seam at a depth of 109 fathoms (10). By 1921, Bowburn Colliery Races for pit ponies were being held each June (11). Another winding engine, this time for the Harvey seam, was installed in 1923. Built by Robey, it was a double horizontal cross-compound steam engine. The piston valve engine had link motion on the Stephenson principle, with Robey overwind and overspeed prevention gear. It wound from 80 fathoms (12).

The 1923 Ordnance Survey map marks Bowburn Colliery near Bowburn House. A spur line connects the colliery to the railway line, now described as the Newcastle, Leamside & Ferryhill section of the North Eastern Railway at Bowburn Colliery Junction. Both Heugh Hall and West Hetton collieries have become disused. Pithead baths were constructed (13) and also a Miners’ Hall (14). Bowburn Colliery closed in 1967.

(1) Victor Watts, A Dictionary of County Durham Place-Names, (2002), p.15.

(2) Ian Stuart Robinson, The Place-Names of County Durham, (1998), p.19.

(3) Durham County Council, Sites and Monument Record.

(4) Kelly’s Directory of Durham and Northumberland (1910), p.61.

(5) Kelly’s Directory of Durham and Northumberland (1938), p.49.

(6) As (3).

(7) Nikolaus Pevsner, The Buildings of England: County Durham, (1983), p.112.

(8) Durham County Council, Coal Mining in County Durham (1993), p.24.

(9) As (8).

(10) Frank Atkinson, The Industrial Archaeology of North-East England vol.2 (1974),

p.272.

(11) Durham County Record Office (afterwards DCRO) D/Ph 175/1.

(12) Frank Atkinson, The Industrial Archaeology of North-East England vol.2 (1974),

pp.271-2.

(13) DCRO NCB 6/99.

(14) DCRO D/Ph 327/26.

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