Fatfield
suburb of Washington, in Tyne and Wear, England, UK
Fatfield is an area of Washington, in the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England.
Description
Fatfield is an area of Washington, Tyne and Wear, England. The southern part of the village by the River Wear is popular for country walks and the three public houses and working men's club on the banks of the river. The site of the original village is just to the west.
Mine disaster
In 1814, the Hall Pit in Fatfield exploded with the loss of 32 lives. At 12:30 on Tuesday 28 September a fall of stone from the roof drove firedamp into contact with candles used by the miners for illumination. All the men below ground were killed, as was one of the four men in the shaft at the time. Contemporary reports refer to the survivors being affected by the afterdamp. Although the colliery was claimed (by, for instance, the colliery overman) to be safe and well worked, there had been three previous explosions of firedamp which had each killed three men.
Education
Fatfield Primary School is located on Southcroft and educates around 235 pupils aged 4–11.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Fatfield” as suburb of Washington, in Tyne and Wear, England, UK. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as suburb of Washington, in Tyne and Wear, England, UK. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 16, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q5437466. Authority coordinates are 54.881, -1.537. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1814.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Fatfield”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Fatfield primary sources, Fatfield archive and Fatfield research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Fatfield”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Fatfield” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.