166 
shaft was continued 50 feet lower, to a depth of 1,178*2 
yards, but, as the coal sought for at this depth was not 
satisfactory in its character, the present mining operations 
are confined to the depth of 940 yards. 
In Belgium there are at the present time about 112 shafts 
500 yards deep and upwards ; whereas in England there are 
only 15 exceeding that depth. It is not intended to con- 
sider any of less depth than 500 yards, as under that 
distance they are not uncommon, and therefore do not come 
within the scope of the present inquiry. 
The following is a table of the deepest mines in Great 
Britain at the present time : — 
No. 
Colliery. 
County. 
Mineral 
Worked. 
Depth 
in Yards. 
1 
Rosebridge 
Lancashire 
Coal 
815 
*2 
Dukenfield 
686 
3 
Monkwearmouth ... 
Durham 
580 
4 
Pendleton 
Lancashire 
526 
6 
Sharlston 
Yorkshire 
512 
6 
Shire Oaks 
Nottinghamshire . . . 
510 
7 
Annesley 
504 
8 
Ince Hall 
Lancashire 
600 
9 
Douglas Bank 
525 
10 
Lindsey 
j> 
505 
11 
Worthington 
>5 • • • •• • 
603 
12 
Seaham 
Durham 
508 
13 
Ryhope 
1 
542 
* Reached by incline a total depth of 940 yards from the surface. 
As Monkwearmouth seems to have been the pioneer of 
deep mining in this country, it deserves a passing reference 
to its history. The sinking of the colliery commenced i 
the year 1826, and continued for nine years, struggling wit 
great engineering difficulties, without meeting with an 
material success. The enterprising spirit of the owners was 
not encouraged at that time by colliery managers generally, 
some of whom predicted that, owing to the fact of the 
Permian rocks overlying that portion of the country, the 
coal measures there would be found either absent or un- 
