Mt Sugarloaf No 1 Colliery Site

Item details


Name of item:	Mt Sugarloaf No 1 Colliery Site
Type of item:	Archaeological-Terrestrial
Group/Collection:	Mining and Mineral Processing
Category:	Mine site
Primary address:	Mt Sugarloaf Road, West Wallsend, NSW 2286
Parish:	Teralba
County:	Northumberland
Local govt. area:	Lake Macquarie

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
Mt Sugarloaf Road	West Wallsend	Lake Macquarie	Teralba	Northumberland	Primary Address
off the Sugarloaf Range Road	West Wallsend	Lake Macquarie	Teralba	Northumberland	Alternate Address

Statement of significance:


	SIGNIFICANCE - 1993: Mount Sugarloaf No. 1 Colliery was based on a small 1885 mine which was the district's first commercially useful coal mine, & helped to establish the important Monkwearmouth & West Wallsend collieries. It was an independent colliery, initiated by a partnership of local men, & operated successfully for about 25 years by a company which was probably formed by the original partners. It was the last colliery in the West Wallsend area to open, & the last to close (other than the new West Wallsend No.2). LEVEL of SIGNIFICANCE - 1993: Regional significance - moderate Local significance - high
	Date significance updated: 28 May 08
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Physical description:	PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS - 1993: Location: the Colliery site is 2.3 kilometres (as the crow flies) north-west of West Wallsend Post Office. To reach the site, travel 0.9 kilometres along Sugarloaf Range Road from its intersection with George Booth Drive, turn left (south) down the side of the ridge for 0.4 kilometres. The track into the Colliery site runs off along the contour to the right. The road up to the site from West Wallsend has been cut off by the Freeway. DESCRIPTION: Mount Sugarloaf No.1 Colliery is located at two levels on a steep hillside, on the south face of Sugarloaf Range. Coal was extracted at the upper level, from three horizontal tunnels (adits) driven into the cliff face. The coal was taken to a lower level area below the cliff face, to be screened and loaded into motor lorries which carted the coal to the nearest working rail line, at West Wallsend Extended Colliery, Killingworth. All buildings and equipment have been removed. A levelled earth working platform outside the tunnels still exists, but the tunnel entrances have been roughly covered by earth piled-up against the cliff face. A short external concrete tunnel shielding the main entrance is partially buried, but is still visible. There are reportedly remnants of walls and concrete footings in the lower area (but not inspected by us). The main access to the site is via the rough dirt road running south towards Killingworth, but now cut by the freeway works. There is also a short very steep broken bitumen road from the upper (adit) level up to Sugarloaf Range Road. Local walkers and trail-bike riders often use these roads to visit the site for recreational use. There is a water tank beside the bitumen acces road, and three concrete saddles beside Sugarloaf Range Road which held an old (colliery?) boiler used as a water tank (since removed).
Modifications and dates:	Surface structures mostly removed. Adits roughly sealed.


Current use:	1993: Long abandoned.

History

Historical notes:

HISTORICAL NOTES - 1993:
In 1885, a small un-named tunnel (not Holmes' Tunnel) was dug into the south face of the Sugarloaf Range, to mine an outcrop of the Great Northern Seam. The coal was used to fire boilers for the sinking of shafts at West Wallsend and Monkwearmouth (Seaham No.1) collieries, until those shafts reached their own seams. The 1885 Mount Sugarloaf tunnel was then abandoned until 1949, when four local men in partnership obtained a lease on the site from Caledonian Coal Co and began mining the old tunnel. In 1953 the mine passed to Mount Sugarloaf Collieries Pty Ltd, which is said to have been formed by the original partners.

The M.S.Co. mined the original tunnel, then dug at least two further horizontal new tunnels (or adits) after the first was worked out. A fourth tunnel was started but abandoned. The mine machinery, including horizontal conveyors to bring out the coal, was powered by electricity from the Cockle Creek Power Station.

Mount Sugarloaf Colliery was unusual in this district, in that it was worked by tunnels (or adits) driven horizontally into a coal seam in the cliff face, without needing deep vertical shafts.

The mine closed in 1978, after producing 2 million tons of coal. The tunnel entrances were "sealed" by bulldozing earth up aginst the cliff face to cover them (but the earth has since settled away from the cliff, leaving a gap which could be dangerous for small children). The "Sugarloaf Colliery" sign from
above the main entrance was re-erected at the West Wallsend Public School, with a memorial plaque with the names of men who had been killed in the district's mines. (See WW-32). A colliery known as Mount Sugarloaf No.2 was opened on the north face of Sugarloaf Range, but this has not been inspected.

Recommended management:

RECOMMENDATION - 1993: Investigate, record and map the remnants of the colliery workings, and record the reminiscences of men who worked there if any of them can be found. Conserve the upper-level workings, the upper access road, and adjacent drains, water tanks etc., as an archaeological area to be open to the public (as part of Mount Sugarloaf Reserve?). Pending further investigation, also plan to conserve the lower workings area for the same purpose. Incorporate the site into the industrial heritage trail, with interpretation of the site's layout and operation, both as an 1885 mine and 1950s-1970s colliery. Improve the sealing and safety of the tunnel entrances, preferably by removing the earth and putting a new seal just inside the tunnel, so that the entrances are visible. Alternatively, make the interior of the tunnels accessible for public inspection, if this can be done safely. (No other local colliery shaft is likely to become publicly accessible. Some old coal mines in Wales have been made into very successful tourist attractions.)

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Statutory Instrument	List on a Local Environmental Plan (LEP)	02 Jul 08
Recommended Management	Carry out an Archaeological Assessment	02 Jul 08
Recommended Management	Document and prepare an archival record	02 Jul 08
Recommended Management	Carry out interpretation, promotion and/or education	02 Jul 08

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Lake Macquarie Local Environmental Plan 2004	WW-47	19 Mar 14
Local Environmental Plan	Lake Macquarie Local Environmental Plan 2014	213	10 Oct 14

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
City of Lake Macquarie Heritage Study	1993	WW-47	Suters Architects Snell, Dr J. Turner, C & MJ Doring Pty Ltd	Doring	Yes

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written	various contributing authors	1989	'Neath Mount Sugarloaf, (Book 3 of 3)
Written	various contributing authors	1988	'Neath Mount Sugarloaf, (Book 2 of 3)
Written	various contributing authors	1987	'Neath Mount Sugarloaf, (Book 1 of 3)

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	1910246

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