In Memory of the Miners

Easington Colliery is a former coal mining town in County Durham, in England. The Colliery began when the pit was first sunk in 1899, near the coast. Thousands of workers came to the area from all parts of Britain and with the new community came new shops, pubs, clubs, and many rows of terraced "colliery houses" for the mine workers and their families.


On 7 May 1993, the mine was closed, with the loss of 1,400 jobs, causing a decline in the local economy. The pit shaft headgear was demolished the following year.


The south shaft was 1586 feet (483 metres) deep. It was the main entrance for miners who reached its depths in just over a minute from the surface riding in a similar three-tier pit cage as the one erected here. Set up as a monument, the cage was shot blasted and painted in Sheffield. It weighs almost 12 tonnes and has been re-instated at the restored site of the former Easington Colliery by the Turning The Tide project as part of the clean up of Durham's coastline. The cage incorporates a time capsule provided by the people of Easington as a store of their memories of the local coal industry.
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