Aykley Heads Colliery

Overview

A pit half a mile north of Durham city, once one of the Busty drawing shafts of Framwellgate Colliery, which closed, was reopened in 1934 as a small working, and was abandoned in 1949.

History

Aykley Heads Colliery lay half a mile north-north-west of Durham city, in Framwellgate. The Ordnance Survey marked it, misspelt 'Akleyheads Pit', on its first edition of 1857 and its second of 1898, and the Durham Mining Museum dates it from the 1880s. It belonged to the Framwellgate Coal and Coke Company, the Acklam ironworks' subsidiary, and was one of the four drawing shafts, with Caterhouse, Framwellgate and Durham Main, of the Busty seam of Framwellgate Colliery.

It was closed, probably in the 1890s, and shown as disused on the maps of 1923 and 1938. In 1934 it was reopened as a very small working: six men in 1934, fifteen in 1935 and four in 1938, raising household coal from the Low Main. The Aykley Heads Coal Company and Galgate Ltd held it in the 1930s and the Witton Gilbert Colliery Company in the 1940s, when twelve men worked the Harvey and Low Main for household, manufacturing, coking and gas coal. The Hutton workings were abandoned in 1942, the Harvey and Low Main were discontinued in 1948, and they were abandoned in September 1949.

Geology

Durham coalfield: the Busty seam (worked through Framwellgate Colliery's drawing shafts), the Hutton, and in the 1930s and 1940s the Low Main and Harvey.

Workings

A shaft, one of the four drawing shafts of Framwellgate Colliery's Busty workings; reopened as a small working from 1934.

Closure

Closed by the early twentieth century and reopened in 1934; the Hutton was abandoned in 1942, and the Harvey and Low Main, discontinued in 1948, were abandoned in September 1949.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Framwellgate Moor Colliery — Aykley Heads was one of the four Busty drawing shafts of Framwellgate Colliery, under the same Framwellgate Coal and Coke Company.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The pit is shown on the Ordnance Survey first edition of 1857. (disputed) ³
• Aykley Heads Colliery opened in the 1880s. (disputed) ²
• The pit closed between 1938 and 1942. (disputed) ^3,4

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Aykley Heads was one of the four drawing shafts of the Busty seam of Framwellgate Colliery. ¹
• The Framwellgate Coal and Coke Company owned it in the 1900s, Galgate Ltd in the 1930s and the Witton Gilbert Colliery Company in the 1940s. ^2,3
• The pit is shown on the Ordnance Survey first edition of 1857. (disputed) ³
• Aykley Heads Colliery opened in the 1880s. (disputed) ²
• The colliery was reopened in 1934, working the Low Main with six men. ²
• The pit closed between 1938 and 1942. (disputed) ^3,4
• The Harvey and Low Main seams were abandoned in September 1949. ^2,5
• Galgate Ltd owned the colliery from 1935 to 1940 and the Witton Gilbert Colliery Co. Ltd from 1945 to 1950. ⁶
• Aykley Heads Colliery closed in September 1949. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Our Rich History — Framwellgate Moor Parish Council
2. (primary) Aykley Heads Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Durham Collieries: Akleyheads Pit (Framwellgate) — Durham County Record Office
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Aykley Heads, Hutton seam — British Geological Survey
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Aykley Heads, Low Main and Harvey seams — British Geological Survey
6. (secondary) Aykley Heads Colliery, City of Durham (mindat.org locality 374826) — mindat.org

Record created: 6 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026