St Alban's Church, Earsdon

The Church of St. Alban, was erected in 1836 at a cost of £2,200, partly on the eastern portion of the site of a former church, and consecrated on the 12th of October, 1837, it is a building of stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave of six bays and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock and 3 bells: St Alban’s Church was consecrated in 1837.

The Hartley Colliery Disaster 1862
A memorial to the Hartley Colliery Disaster of 16 January 1862 was erected in the churchyard where some of the dead were buried, all 204 names of the dead men and boys are inscribed on the face of the monument. The churchyard was too small for all the burials so an adjacent field was also used

The tragedy was the most fatal pit disaster in the North East. The engine beam at the Hester Pit snapped and fell into the shaft bringing with it a huge amount of debris. Because the pit was single-shaft and had no alternative exit a large number of miners were trapped underground. After several days rescuers thought they heard 'jowling' (the noise entombed miners make when they try to show that they are still alive) but later they realised they were mistaken. When eventually, on 23rd January, bodies were found it was clear that most of the victims had died from the effects of poisonous gases released by the original collapse of the beam. The disaster attracted huge public interest. 20,000 sightseers joined the families waiting at the surface for news in the first days after the accident. 60,000, it is said, took part in the funeral procession to Earsdon Churchyard on 26th January

Legislation obliging owners to sink two shafts side by side was rushed through Parliament by the end of the year.