Barcus Close Colliery

Overview

A colliery near Burnopfield in the Tanfield parish of north-west Durham, worked by the Barcus Close Coal Company from the 1910s, nearly abandoned in the 1930s, and grown by the National Coal Board to over 260 men before it closed in April 1966.

History

Barcus Close Colliery lay near Burnopfield, six and a half miles south-west of Newcastle, in the parish of Tanfield. The Barcus Close Coal Company worked it from the 1910s; in 1921 it had 22 men raising gas and steam coal from the Brass Thill and Five Quarter, and in 1925 85 men working the Brass Thill and Hutton for manufacturing coal. The Five Quarter was abandoned in October 1931, the Brass Thill in September 1932 and the Little Hutton in November 1933, and in May 1935 the colliery was discontinued with six men left.

It was working again in 1940 with 34 men, and the Hutton was abandoned in December 1944. Under the National Coal Board it grew: 167 men in 1953 working the Three Quarter for coking, gas and steam coal, 211 in 1955, and 263 in 1960 and 1961, by then on the Brockwell, Three Quarter and Victoria. A Three Quarter plan is dated 1957, and the colliery closed in April 1966, its Victoria, Brockwell and Three Quarter plans dated that year.

Geology

North-west Durham coalfield: the Brass Thill, Five Quarter, Hutton and Little Hutton in the 1920s and 1930s, and the Three Quarter, Brockwell and Victoria under the NCB.

Workings

Unknown.

Closure

Discontinued in May 1935 and reopened by 1940; closed in April 1966.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Bryan's Leap Colliery — Both worked by the Barcus Close Coal Co., about 450 metres apart near Burnopfield and Rowlands Gill.

Recorded claims

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

• The Barcus Close Coal Co. worked the colliery from the 1910s; Reid's guides list it in 1928 and 1936. ^1,2
• The colliery was discontinued in May 1935 with six men. ¹
• The Five Quarter was abandoned on 16 October 1931, the Brass Thill on 17 September 1932 and the Little Hutton on 4 November 1933. ³
• Under the NCB it employed 263 men in 1960, working the Brockwell and Victoria. ¹
• Barcus Close Colliery closed in 1966. ^1,2,4

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Barcus Close Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Durham Collieries: Barcus Close Colliery (Tanfield) — Durham County Record Office
3. (primary) Barcus Close Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Barcus Close, Brockwell 'S', 1966 — British Geological Survey

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