Barlow Towneley Drift

Overview

A National Coal Board drift at Barlow, near Winlaton, that worked the Towneley seam for coking coal from 1953 until October 1961, with up to 220 men.

History

Barlow Towneley Drift, also recorded as Barlow Fell Drift, was a National Coal Board drift mine at Barlow, near Winlaton, above the Derwent valley about six miles west-south-west of Newcastle. The Coal Board's list of its collieries dates it from 1953.

It worked only the Towneley seam, also called the Harvey, raising coking coal. It employed 220 in 1955 and 1956, 200 of them underground, then 208 from 1957 to 1959, 188 in 1960 and 168 in 1961.

The Towneley workings were abandoned on 29 May 1961, the date on the Coal Authority's plans of Barlow Drift, and the drift closed in October 1961. Lilley Drift, a short distance to the south at Rowlands Gill, had worked the same Towneley seam earlier in the decade.

Geology

Worked only the Towneley seam (Towneley or Harvey), for coking coal.

Workings

A drift mine in the Towneley seam.

Closure

The Towneley workings were abandoned on 29 May 1961 and the drift closed in October 1961.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Lilley Drift — Both worked the Towneley seam a short distance apart (Lilley Towneley plans 1953, BGS 21894082; Barlow Towneley 1961).

Recorded claims

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

• Worked from 1953 and closed in October 1961. ^1,2
• Worked only the Towneley seam for coking coal. ^2,3
• Employed 220 in 1955 and 1956, falling to 168 in 1961. ²
• Plans of the Towneley workings of Barlow Drift were abandoned on 29 May 1961. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Barlow Towneley Drift — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: BARLOW DRIFT, Towneley or Harvey 'N' seam, abandoned 29 May 1961 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 10 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026