In the 14th century as forests began to deplete, coal
grew in economic importance and mines spread out from the banks of the
River Wear into the surrounding countryside. By the 1600's shafts had been
sunk to shallow seams to create 'bell' pits worked only as far as
ventilation would allow, by the 17th and 18th centuries, mechanical
pumping and primitive ventilation systems brought further development. By
the early 19th century, steam power enabled deeper pits to be dug.
Hetton Colliery run by the Hetton Coal Company in 1820 began to
breakthrough the layer of magnesium limestone, 19 months after sinking
began coal was found. This was followed by others including Monkwearmouth,
which in one Royal Commission report was said to be the deepest coal mine
in the world. The story of local miners is one of courage, comradeship,
danger, hardship and spirit, they were dependant on each other for their
lives. Still fast asleep they were carried to work on the backs of their
fathers or older brothers in the early hours through dark streets to
darker pits, these were the infants working as trapper boys some only 5
and 6 years old.
Trappers opened and closed doorways along the pits underground roads. This
was the least arduous work but the most solitary and monotonous and the
most responsible, for on these children depended the ventilation of the
colliery. Their trapdoors controlled the flow of air and several major
explosions in the 19th century were said to be due to the trappers falling
asleep or neglect. Trappers earned about 5/- (25p) per week, a 16 hour day
was normal for these children who were up at 3am six days a week to go to
work, home for supper and then to bed.
Infants made up one fifth of the workforce in Wearside pits and about 15%
of Monkwearmouth's labour force was under 13 years old, for children were
cheap and could save a man's wages for the owner. Then again families
lived in tied pit houses, so if the father was killed they would be
evicted unless his children worked in the mine. There was no legislation
to protect the children working in pits and even by the standards of the
19th century, the conditions were horrendous.
Child miners were becoming a major concern when a Royal Commissions
inspector John Roby Leifchild found one child 7 years old was the
breadwinner of his family, down Wearmouth pit. He had been at work in the
pit the day his father was killed by an explosion, he told the inspector
he felt the blast "like a heavy wind and it blew all the candles out" the
memory obviously still troubled him.
Mr Liefchild was also horrified to discover 16 hour shifts were considered
normal and children were left down the pit for 24, 36 and 48 hours, he
also found one who had been underground an entire week. This led to a new
legislation in 1872, the minimum age was to be 12 years old and to work no
more than ten hours a day. In April 1869 the incentive to unionize came
from cuts of up to 33% in the piece rates at Monkwearmouth Colliery, the
cuts were accepted until the men found they could not earn a living wage
and in May they went on strike. They were prosecuted for breaking their
contracts. The union did however negotiate the abolishment of the bond,
(the bond set the maximum work hours) by 1910 eight hours plus travelling
time became normal.
The town's economic transformation after 1945 was dramatic, the massive
collapse of the industries on which Sunderland depended undermined the
reconstruction effort and exposed the structural frailties of the local
economy. In 1960 coalmining employed some 18,000 workers in the area,
about 20 of the male workforce. By 1971 numbers had fallen to 12,000 and
by 1985 it was down to 3,500. The energy crisis of 1973 and the miners
strike of 1984-85 brought coal to the political forefront, ugly and
violent conflict broke out at Wearmouth Colliery gates. By the late 1980's
Wearmouth was the town's sole remaining pit, employing 2,000 men. The 20th
century brought nationalization and competition from other fuels, until in
the end in 1993, Wearmouth Colliery also closed.
