Bardon Mill Colliery

Overview

A drift mine at Bardon Mill in the South Tyne valley, west of Hexham, begun in 1938 as Henshaw Colliery and producing from 1940. It worked the thin Little Limestone Coal beneath the river, employing over 300 in the 1960s, until water, faults and distance closed it on 24 November 1973.

History

Coal and fireclay had been worked at Bardon Mill before the twentieth century: fireclay is recorded in 1882, and workings in the Little Limestone Coal, owned by the Henshaw and Barcombe Colliery Company in the 1920s and Errington, Reay and Co. in the 1930s, employed a handful of men, standing idle in 1925. The colliery known by the village's name was begun in 1938, when the first turf was cut for a drift 340 yards long at a gradient of 1 in 3; it took two years to drive before coal was won in 1940. Known as Henshaw Colliery and owned in the 1940s by the Birkshaw Colliery Company, it was taken over by the National Coal Board in 1947 and renamed Bardon Mill in 1948.

Under the Coal Board it grew steadily, from 100 men in 1947 to 210 in 1951, 264 in 1955 and 340 in 1964, raising household and steam coal from the Little Limestone seam alone. The seams grew thinner and the faces further from the drift mouth; water became a serious problem, the workings lying only 300 yards beneath the River Tyne, and faults on the south side of the river barred more coal. The colliery closed on 24 November 1973, the date its last Little Limestone plans were deposited. The village hall, opened in 2013, stands on the colliery site, with a loaded coal wagon at its roadside entrance as a monument to the miners.

Geology

Carboniferous Limestone coal measures of the Tyne valley: the Little Limestone Coal, with fireclay.

Workings

A drift 340 yards long at 1 in 3, begun in 1938; workings in the Little Limestone seam extending under the River Tyne.

Closure

Closed on 24 November 1973 (the village hall's history says 1972): thinning seams far from the drift mouth, water from the river 300 yards above, and faults to the south.

What remains

The site is occupied by Bardon Mill and Henshaw Village Hall (2013) and Redburn Park.

A loaded coal wagon stands at the roadside entrance to the village hall as a monument to the miners.

Redevelopment

Bardon Mill and Henshaw Village Hall, built into the hillside on the colliery site and opened in 2013, with Redburn Park beside it.

Recorded claims

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

• The first turf was cut in 1938 for a drift 340 yards long at 1 in 3, which took two years to drive before coal was won; the colliery was known as Henshaw until its name changed in 1948. ¹
• Bardon Mill Colliery, called Henshaw in 1950, closed in November 1973. ²
• Bardon Mill employed 100 in 1947, 210 in 1951, 264 in 1955 and 340 in 1964, working the Little Limestone seam for household and steam coal. ³
• The seams were becoming thinner and further from the drift mouth, water was a serious problem with the drift only 300 yards beneath the river, and faults on the south side of the Tyne prevented more coal being taken. ¹
• The Bardon Mill Little Limestone workings were abandoned on 24 November 1973. ^3,4
• The village hall stands on the colliery site, with a loaded coal wagon at its roadside entrance as a monument to the miners. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) The History of Bardon Mill and Henshaw Village Hall — Bardon Mill and Henshaw Village Hall
2. (secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Bardon Mill Colliery (also known as Henshaw Colliery) — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Bardon Mill, Little Limestone, abandoned 24 November 1973 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

Record created: 5 October 2026 · Last researched: 5 October 2026