Summary

Colliery disaster memorial, about 1882 by G Ryder and Sons of Bishop Auckland.

Description

Colliery disaster memorial, about 1882 by G Ryder and Sons of Bishop Auckland.

MATERIALS: sandstone ashlar with granite shafts.

DESCRIPTION: the Gothic monument occupies the centre of the cemetery and stands about five metres high. It has a shaped base supporting a square pedestal which has a moulded plinth and cornice; there are capitals on corner shafts framing a panel to each face. This is surmounted by a high, tapering, octagonal spire, with blind tracery and leaf decoration on alternate panels, and a cross finial bearing the inscription I H S. The spire rests upon a square block which has scenes carved in low relief on all sides, and has flower and beast decoration. These detailed scenes represent a miner walking to work, an injured miner being rescued from the pit, a grieving widow at her husband's grave and a scroll with clasped hands inscribed with the word 'FRIENDSHIP'.

The Gothic-shaped panels on the pedestal bear inscriptions incised in Roman letters which read: on the west face: IN MEMORY OF/ THE 37 MEN AND/ BOYS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES/ IN THE LAMENTABLE/ EXPLOSION AT TUDHOE/ APRIL 18 1882/ ERECTED BY THEIR FELLOW WORKMEN AND FRIENDS AS A/ TOKEN OF SINCERE RESPECT. The names of the dead are inscribed below the inscription and on the other three faces.

History

County Durham's third mining disaster of the 1880s occurred only two months after the nearby Trimdon explosion, and preceded a similar blast at West Stanley by only a few days. The explosion at Tudhoe Colliery took place on 28 April 1882 and was its first major accident. Sixty miners were below ground when the 'Black Horse' blew at 1.15 am. A rescue was mounted immediately, but was hampered by a jammed cage and fallen debris. Massive crowds gathered at the pit mouth as dozens of injured survivors were brought to the surface. The bodies of 37 men and boys were discovered. The subsequent enquiry found that the explosion was caused by a fall of stone. This memorial is a replica of another placed in Trimdon Colliery to a separate colliery disaster.

Reasons for Listing

The Tudhoe Colliery Disaster Memorial, of 1882, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* a tall and attractive Gothic design in the form of a spire with intricate decorative detailing;
* it displays good-quality materials and craftsmanship and creates a prominent central landmark within the cemetery in which it stands;
* it has good quality and well-detailed carved scenes in low relief, depicting aspects of miners' lives and death.

Historic interest:

* it commemorates a major Durham coalfield mining disaster in 1882 in which 37 men and boys died, and stands as a tangible expression of the hazards inherent in England's later-C19 coal mining industry.

Group value:

* it benefits from a spatial and functional group value with the First World War memorial, erected to the men and officials of Tudhoe Colliery, that stands at the entrance to the cemetery.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26608613

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings