Haswell, County Durham
Haswell is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated east of the city of Durham, south of the city of Sunderland and north-west of the town of Peterlee.
History
The original settlement of Haswell was located where High Haswell is now on the hilltop before the village's centre moved downhill to its modern location on Salter's Lane. In the 14th century, Haswell's small population was nearly wiped out by the Black Death.Resting on a limestone escarpment, coal was discovered in the early 19th century and a colliery was sunk by 1831. Haswell became home to the first coal mine in the world with a steel cable down its mine shaft. On 28 September 1844, a blackdamp explosion killed 95 Haswell Coal Company workers, with just four survivors. The colliery closed in 1896, and Haswell's population collapsed by 1901 after the miners left, leaving behind a rural settlement.