Beadnell Colliery

Overview

A small coastal colliery at Beadnell, near the old limestone quarry that fed the harbour kilns: its Main seam, restarted in 1886, was drowned out in 1891, and the last seam was given up as unprofitable in 1897.

History

Beadnell Colliery lay at Beadnell on the north Northumberland coast, about ten miles north-north-east of Alnwick, beside the limestone quarry that supplied the kilns at Beadnell Harbour. The Beadnell Main seam had been worked and abandoned before 1886, and the shaft now capped on the site was already shown as disused by the middle of the 19th century.

R. H. Taylor and others recommenced the Main seam in 1886, with R. F. Spence as manager by 1888. In March 1891 the Main was abandoned because of too much water. In the 1890s V. W. Corbett and Company worked the Beadnell seam for household coal with twelve men, eight of them underground, under G. A. Greener, who held no manager's certificate. The Beadnell seam was abandoned in 1897, on 27 April according to one record of the plan and on 6 June according to the Inspector's report, which gave the reason as unprofitable working.

Geology

The Beadnell Main seam, and the Beadnell seam worked in the 1890s.

Workings

A shaft, now capped with a concrete pad.

Closure

The Main seam was abandoned in March 1891 because of too much water; the Beadnell seam was abandoned in 1897 as unprofitable (27 April in one record, 6 June in another).

What remains

The capped shaft lies in grassland beside houses; the old quarry next to it is flooded and forms a small reservoir.

A concrete pad capping the shaft.

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 Beadnell seam was abandoned on 27 April 1897. (disputed) ^2,5
• The Beadnell seam was abandoned on 6 June 1897, as unprofitable. (disputed) ^1,2

Recorded claims

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

• The Main seam at Beadnell, abandoned before 1886, was recommenced in 1886. ^1,2
• Beadnell's Main seam was abandoned in March 1891 because of too much water. ^1,2,3
• In the 1890s V. W. Corbett and Company worked Beadnell for household coal with twelve men, eight of them underground. ^1,4
• The Beadnell seam was abandoned on 27 April 1897. (disputed) ^2,5
• The Beadnell seam was abandoned on 6 June 1897, as unprofitable. (disputed) ^1,2
• A concrete pad caps the Beadnell Colliery shaft, beside a reservoir formed in the flooded limestone quarry that furnished the Beadnell Harbour kilns. ^4,6

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Beadnell Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Beadnell Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21922552: Beadnell / New / Taylor, Main seam, March 1891 — British Geological Survey
4. (secondary) Beadnell Colliery — North East Heritage Library (Coals Archive)
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21925436: Beadnell, Beadnell seam, abandoned 27 April 1897 — British Geological Survey
6. (observational) The site of Beadnell Colliery (Geograph photograph 5235403) — Geograph

Record created: 22 October 2026 · Last researched: 22 October 2026