Miners Memorial

Miners Memorial

Memorial erected in 1923, designed by architect William Henry Knowles and sculptor John Reid. Originally located in Hirst Park, Ashington, the memorial was re-erected in 1991 at Woodhorn Colliery Museum.

The memorial consists of a bronze figure set upon a white granite plinth and pedestal, with low relief bronze panels. The composition features a stepped base with low pyramid-capped piers at each corner, supporting a tall tapering granite pedestal with a moulded base. A moulded string arches over drinking fountains positioned on the north and south sides. The east side carries a low-relief bronze plaque depicting a colliery scene, while the west side bears an inscribed plaque recording the names and roles of those commemorated.

The inscription reads: "ERECTED BY THE MINERS AND DEPUTIES TRADE-UNION BRANCHES IN THE ASHINGTON GROUP OF COLLIERIES (ASSISTED BY DONATIONS FROM THE ASHINGTON AND CO. LTD., THE NORTHUMBERLAND MINERS ASSOCIATION, THE NORTHUMBERLAND DEPUTIES ASSOCIATIONS AND FRIENDS) IN MEMORY OF THEIR FELLOW WORKMEN WHO LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE WOODHORN COLLIERY EXPLOSION ON SUNDAY, AUG. 13 1916" followed by the names of three stonemen, two putters and eight deputies.

A carved laurel wreath is set immediately below a moulded cap which carries a life-size sculpture of a mining deputy holding up a safety lamp.

The memorial commemorates the Woodhorn Colliery disaster of 13 August 1916, when an explosion in the Main Seam killed thirteen men—eleven outright and two who never regained consciousness. A repairing shift composed of eight deputies and five other workers had entered the mine to set steel girders as roof supports. The explosion was caused by the presence of inflammable gas within the seam.

William Henry Knowles (1857–1943) was a renowned Newcastle architect responsible for numerous Grade II listed buildings, including several now part of the University of Newcastle such as the King Edward VII School of Art (1911) and the School of Bacteriology (1922). He was also a respected archaeologist and authority on Hadrian's Wall, directing excavations at Corstopitum between 1907 and 1914. John Reid (born c. 1890), the sculptor, was Master of Sculpture at Armstrong College, Newcastle, and his Royal Tank Regiment war memorial in Newcastle upon Tyne is listed at Grade II.