Details

The monument includes the earthwork and below ground remains of Stublick
Colliery including two shafts and related buried features and deposits,
situated immediately south of Stublick.

Stublick coalfield is an upland outlier to the main north east coalfield
and its thin seams of poor quality coal were worked on a considerably
smaller scale. The coal it produced was, however, adequate for lead
smelting, and during the 18th and 19th century's collieries at Stublick
supplied coal to the adjacent Langley and Blaghill lead smelting mills. A
core area of the adjacent shaft mound landscape and Langley lead smelter
are the subjects of separate schedulings. The present remains of Stublick
Colliery date from 1838 when, in order to exploit deeper coal strata,
improved drainage was required; documents record the construction of a
new engine house and the provision of a steam engine. Remains of the
earlier phase of mining are however, also thought to survive.

The most prominent features today are the standing remains of the boiler
house, beam engine house and adjacent chimney situated immediately to the
south of the main pumping shaft. These buildings, thought to date to the
1830s are Listed Grade II*. The shaft, itself, was used for pumping water
from the deeper parts of the mine and is visible as a roughly circular
opening. It is situated within a levelled terrace whose walls are revetted
in stone. Although the headgear has been dismantled, traces of the
mountings, which supported it, are thought to survive as buried features.
Within and beneath the adjacent engine and boiler houses, features
associated with the use of these buildings are also thought to survive as
buried remains; these would normally include bases and settings for
engines and boilers and related archaeological deposits. A single storey
range of buildings is attached to the east side of the engine house; this
building is also Listed Grade II*. This range housed a variety of
workshops including a smithy and archaeological features and deposits
relating to the use of these buildings are expected to survive below
ground level.

Immediately to the south west of the pumping shaft, there are the standing
remains of a second engine house with a detached boiler chimney, thought
to have housed a winding engine. Features and associated archaeological
deposits are considered to survive within and beneath the buildings
including evidence for the engine bed and related features. A second shaft
situated immediately to the south of the engine house is thought to have
been used for winding and hauling coal to the surface. The shaft itself,
which has been infilled, is also thought to retain the remains of headgear
mountings and associated features.

In addition to the features and deposits within and beneath the main colliery
buildings, the ground between these buildings and surrounding areas formed an
integral part of the colliery. Small spoil heaps are visible adjacent to the
two boiler chimneys and a larger spoil heap, thought to be earlier than the
present colliery and related to earlier workings on the site, is visible as a
large mound situated to the west of the pumping shaft. Other remains survive
beneath the level of the ground and these are considered to include evidence
of ducting for the transmission of power from the pumping engine to other
shafts and machinery in the vicinity.

All standing colliery buildings and the wooden enclosure surrounding the
pumping shaft, are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground
beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Coal has been mined in England since Roman times, and between 8,000 and 10,000
coal industry sites of all dates up to the collieries of post-war
nationalisation are estimated to survive in England. Three hundred and four
coal industry sites, representing approximately 3% of the estimated national
archaeological resource for the industry have been identified as being of
national importance. This selection, compiled and assessed through a
comprehensive survey of the coal industry, is designed to represent the
industry's chronological depth, technological breadth and regional diversity.
The term `nucleated' is used to describe coal mines that developed as a result
of increased capital investment in the 18th and 19th centuries. They are a
prominent type of field monument produced by coal mining and typically
consist of a range of features grouped around the shafts of a mine. The
simplest examples contain merely a shaft or adit with associated spoil heap.
Later examples are characterised by developed pit head arrangements that may
include remains of engine houses for pumping and/or winding from shafts,
boiler houses, fan houses for ventilating mine workings, offices, workshops,
pithead baths, and transport systems such as railways and canals. A number of
later nucleated mines also retain the remains of screens where the coal was
sized and graded. Coke ovens are frequently found on or near colliery sites.
Coal occurs in significant deposits throughout large parts of England and this
has given rise to a variety of coalfields extending from the north of England
to the Kent coast. Each region has its own history of exploitation, and
characteristic sites range from the small, compact collieries of north
Somerset to the large, intensive units of the north east. A sample of the
better preserved sites, illustrating the regional, chronological and
technological range of nucleated coal mines, together with rare individual
component features are considered to merit protection.

The earthwork and below ground remains of Stublick Colliery, immediately
south of Stublick are well-preserved and retain significant evidence
relating to the layout and operation of coalmines of this period. The
pumping shaft and its associated features survive well, and undisturbed
buried remains survive in, between and around the colliery buildings. The
accumulation of archaeological deposits including spoil and waste will
contain important information about the dating and sequence of deposition
and the nature of early 19th century coalmining. Evidence of any earlier
coal workings in the area will also be preserved. The association of the
coalmine with the nationally important Langley lead smelting mill enhances
its significance. The importance of the earthwork and buried remains of
the colliery is increased by the survival of the standing colliery
buildings, which are considered to be the finest early 19th century group
in the region. Taken together, this is a rare example of a near complete
early 19th century colliery, which will add to our knowledge, and
understanding of coalmining at this time.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Northumberland, (1992), 372

Source: Historic England