Harriston

Harriston
Cumberland
Harriston
Location
Grid reference:	NY159416
Location:	54°45’47"N, 3°18’25"W
Data
Post town:	Wigton
Postcode:	CA7
Dialling code:	016973
Local Government
Council:	Cumberland
Parliamentary constituency:	Workington

Harriston is a small hamlet in Cumberland, consisting of approximately 100 houses. It was created by the Harris Estate to serve a mine sunk here in 1868

History

Creation of the village

In 1868, the trustees of the infant Joseph Harris sunk a colliery one mile to the south-east of Aspatria to expand the estate’s mining interests. At that time the population of Aspatria numbered 1,100 and comprised 250 houses, which was insufficient to man thr mine, so workers were sought form beyond the area, and the Harris Estate built houses houses to accommodate the new influx, naming it ‘Harristown’. Shortly afterwards this became ‘Harriston’.

The houses built were tied houses belonging to the estate and specifically for its employees, and they were built well in order to attract the right quality of worker but equally important, once employed retain their services. To this end the Estate built a village with three streets comprising, 96 two-up and two-down terraced houses, which is the pattern on which the village remains built.

No. 3 Brayton domain colliery

After buying a parcel of glebe land from Aspatria’s church for £750 the trustees sank a series of test bores to determine the economic feasibility of the coalfield; raising the first coal on 12 August 1870. During its life the mine had three shafts; No 1, 575 feet deep to the Yard Band; No 2, 540 feet to the same seam; and No 3, 310 feet to the Ten-Quarters seam.

Although the mine contained vast quantities of household quality coal the miners encountered many faults and harsh conditions in the early stages. At times they dragged coal distances of over 400 yards, performing work later undertaken by ponies. However, as the mine opened out the quality and quantity improved beyond all expectations and eventually demanded a very high price in the market place.

To extract coal the owner adopted the Longwall system of mining. A method whereby the miners pushed the workings forward in a long continuous line and as they advanced they packed the goaf (the space left after the extraction of coal) with stone and slack on which to settle the roof. This system had three primary advantages; firstly, it was ideal for working thin seams; secondly, since it did not require pillars they could remove almost all of the coal; and thirdly, they could remove the coal in a single operation; and when undermined, the pressure of the strata above brought the roof down in large lumps. They extracted the coal from the goaf through gateways, which were normally 11 metres wide, supported on each side by walls of stone. Only in the gateways was height available for the movement of coal.

The mine came into full production in 1874, and continued to maintain a satisfactory output for over eight years; after which new explorations were required to guarantee continuous working. In 1882, Harris drove a dip drift]] a distance of 1,200 yards from the hauling engine to discover a new seam. In 1892, he completed a level drift 1,260 yards long and after three years of exploration he found a new seam. In addition to installing an air compressor at the bank to assist ventilation, he moved the hauling engine to the out-by end of the drift; and relocated the pump to extract the surplus water. The output increased to record levels, peaking at 600 tons for an 8.5-hour shift. In 1894, he attempted without success to expand the colliery in a southerly direction. The results of these modifications offered continual employment until 1902, when the mine became commercially exhausted.

In October 1904, a large gathering of villagers witnessed the dismantling of the two remaining chimneys. The work was executed by John Foster, foreman joiner, under the superintendence of George Askew, Manager.

Although no major disasters occurred in the thirty year life of the mine at least seventeen lives were lost as a direct result of injuries sustained at work.

Developing the village

Although the population of Harriston had risen to over 500 inhabitants by 1893, it was neglected by the civic authorites, as it was a privately owned estate: the council even refused to open an electoral polling station in the village despite its contributing a substantial portion of the district rate. The situation worsened after the colliery closed and the rateable value of the village fell. The road to Aspatria was a mile-long unadopted track, undrained barely a yard and a half broad: forty years elapsed before the council finally adopted the road, and longer before it took on the upkeep of the streets of the village. The railway passed by, but with no station but Aspatria. The village had no post office nor pillar box: in 1919 the residents presented a petition to the Post Master-General seeking the establishment of a sub post office.

In 1904 the Aspatria and District Industrial Cooperative Society established a branch store in Harriston. In 1904 the council replaced the solitary water pump that stood at the top of the village with a gravity fed water supply from the Overwater main. In 1910, fifty years after Aspatria was connected to the gas supply, Harriston received gas, and in 1940 it was connected to the electricity mains.

In 1913, the Harris family laid a bowling green on the site of the old pit yard and inaugurated a competitive club. In later years the council erected a children's play area, complete with swings and roundabouts. In 1952, the youngsters began their own Youth Club; an organisation ran by Harry Iredale, which in addition to indoor activities, offered cricket and football for boys, and netball for girls on land belonging to George Blackburn. After the mine closed Harris re-employed all of the colliers at No 4 pit. Although a considerable journey by road it was shorter by way of the fields. Harris struck up an agreement with the local landowners and cut a path across the land, a path later known as the 'Black Trod'.

In 1879, at personal expense, Harris constructed a large commodious building, which residents used through the week as an infants school, in the evenings a hall for temperance meetings and on Sundays a place of worship. In 1892, Harris opened the Harris Institute, a colliers club comprising reading, smoking and billiard rooms; a club where workers could enjoy their evenings playing games and reading newspapers away from public houses.

Modern Development

In July 1974, the local council took the extraordinary step of condemning the village in its entirety; and the houses many of which were owner occupied became the subject of a compulsory purchase order. The village, with few proper bathrooms, would have been rased to the ground had it not been for the efforts of a few local councillors. Instead it became the subject of a prestigious rebuild and a short residential relocation. The village was designed to echo the local architectural traditions of rendered and painted houses. Whilst some original materials such as slates and pavings were salvaged from the old village, most of the new building is in concrete. The entire load bearing superstructure of the new houses is of concrete blocks faced externally with a painted sand and cement roughcast rendering. Floor units, Lintel (architecture)|lintels and sills are of precast concrete.

Once completed the radical development became the subject of considerable media attention. The new Harriston contains the same number of houses as its predecessor, arranged around a traditional village green. When complete it contained a variety of dwellings, ranging from bungalows to family homes with three and four bedrooms. The new facilities included a village shop, allotments, garages and children's play areas. Only two of the original buildings remained, the old village hall became a modern village hall, while the old cooperative store became a small industrial unit. In the early 1980s the design won several nationwide awards for the architects Happer, Errington, Collerton Partnership, including the prestigious Civic Trust Award. Shortly afterwards The Queen attended an exhibition in the Carnegie Arts Centre, Workington, where after being introduced to many of the leading personalities, observed photographs and miniature models of the scheme.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Harriston)

• Durham Mining Museum Index of Mines
• Brayton Domain – pictures of Aspatria mines
• Vikings on the Solway Plain – pictures of local 'finds'

References

• Anne Thomas; Bill Thomas (1996). Archive Journal No 9 March 1961. Archive. 
• Olive R Wood (1988). West Cumberland Coal 1600 – 1982. Kendal: Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaelogical Society. 
• J. Rose; M. Dunglinson (1987). Aspatria. Chichester: Phillimore. 
• Allerdale District Council (1980). Village Life Retained. Concrete Quarterly April June 1980. 
• Michael Fleetwood; Gillian Darley (1980). Harriston A Village Reborn. The Architects Journal 16 January 1980.