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Seaham Park Mill

Photo Credit: Sunderland Echo before its demolition in 1959

Why did Seaham Colliery get nicknamed the “Nack Pit”?

From the very early sinking of Seaham Colliery which began its life as “Seaton” Colliery the pit began to take on the nickname of the Nack Pit. But where did that name come from?

A few plausible theories have been presented over the years but all of them involve a gentleman called Thomas Chilton and a steam driven corn Mill at the turnpike on the Seaham to Stockton road.

Thomas Chilton was a miller who occupied Seaham Park Mill in the early part of the 19^th century. In the 1850’s the Mill was fitted out as an extensive steam Mill. By 1856 the ownership of the Mill had passed to Thomas Brough when a furious fire entirely destroyed the building including 2,000 bushels of wheat and causing damage estimated at £2,500. A small fire engine was brought up from Seaham Harbour and worked with great energy but unfortunately without great effect. It was reported in the Newcastle Journal on 20^th September 1856 that before the fire of 1856 and before the sinking of Seaton Colliery, it was known as the “Nicky Nack Mill”. The Mill was rebuilt shortly after the fire of 1856. When its usefulness came to an end for grinding corn the sails were dismantled and the Mill was turned into a blacking factory. Later it became a dwelling house whose last tenants moved to the council estate in the 1930’s. A landmark for nearly three centuries the Mill was eventually demolished in 1959.

But where did the Mill get the name “Nicky Nack”?

One theory was that when the sails went round on the original wind powered Mill it made a “tick-tack” sound. Another suggests that a pump operating in the Mill made a “click-clack” sound. However, the evidence strongly supports a third explanation.

When Thomas Chilton ceased to be the miller, he occupied the public house next to the Mill called The Mill Inn. In the public house Thomas Miller indulged in his hobby and pastime and began a small museum that he filled with curiosities and “nick nacks”. In an old local song a verse mentions him as the miller Inn-keeper: -

Thomas Chilton may show off his ‘lectrical wonders,

An’ fire through your carcass wi’ nicky nack skill,

An’ ‘lectrify the dogs till they flee through the winder,

An’ play on a walking stick bonny and shrill,

“nicky nack skill”

It was reported in the 1830’s that Thomas Chilton, miller and inn keeper, had a room filled with curiosities - a museum – and his public house was filled with “nick nacks”. It was said that he made many startling experiments far in advance of his time. He electrified a greyhound which bolted through the window no doubt prompting the verse in the local song. He was also an accomplished musician who played the “flageolet” which to all appearances was a walking stick. He was also famous in the district for repairing spinning wheels and restoring the “nick nack” rhythm to many machines brought to him for repair. Hence his public house also became associated with the term “nicky nack”.

Thomas Chilton was landlord of the Mill Inn from 1827 to 1834. Later, he was landlord of the Braddyll Arms from 1841 to 1851 at which time he was also running a Brewery and Bottle House in John Street until 1872 which later relocated to Railway Street. Could Thomas Chilton have taken his museum of curiosities and nick nacks with him to the Braddyll Arms or Brewery? In July 1849 during the sinking of Seaton Colliery a live toad was found embedded in limestone and died soon after being brought to the surface. It was sent to Thomas Chilton at Seaham Harbour and exhibited in his “museum”. Although a toad embedded alive in limestone sounds implausible there are many reported cases of toads being discovered in similar circumstances in “Notes for Naturalists”.

The next mystery to solve is “Whatever happened to Thomas Chilton’s museum”? An article in the Sunderland Echo dated 12th September 1940 offers some theories....

Sunderland Echo 12th September 1940

Although a number of theories have been put forward over the years about the origin of "nicky nack" the term was applied to Seaham Park Mill and Thomas Chilton's Mill Inn Pub before Seaham Colliery existed. Therafter, the term was shortened and associated with the new colliery which became known as "The Knack Pit". As the old saying goes "Fifty people might go to a football match and each one has a different version of what happened in the match but there is one thing certain - There was a football match!"

Fred Cooper