Bebside Colliery

Overview

A south-east Northumberland colliery at Bebside near Blyth, sunk from September 1853 and raising coal from May 1858 through its A and B pits. It worked steam coal for the Blyth trade under a succession of local companies and closed in 1926. No disaster of five or more deaths is recorded there.

History

Sinking began on 13 September 1853 and the colliery opened in May 1858, working two shafts, the A and B pits. It was held by Lambert & Co. in the 1850s and by Lambert, Nicholson & Co. in the 1860s, then by the Bebside & Choppington Coal Company in the 1880s and the Bebside Coal Company Ltd from the 1890s.

Its returns are those of a Northumberland coast colliery working for the shipping trade: plain coal to 1890 and steam coal from both pits from 1894. It closed in 1926, before nationalisation.

The 1853 sinking was not the first coal at Bebside. Tynemouth Priory was leasing a pit in the fields of Bebside and Cowpen as early as 1535, the Crown leased all its coal there with nine salt pans to Peter Delaval and Ambrose Dudley in 1595, and in the early 17th century Saunders and Paramore's pits in Cowpen and Bebside were joined to the river by wooden wagonways, among the earliest recorded anywhere, before the venture failed within two years.

Geology

The colliery worked the Coal Measures of the Northumberland coalfield close to the coast at Blyth, where the steam coals that fed the collier trade out of the Tyne and the Blyth staithes were the mainstay. Its output was returned as steam coal from 1894, which is what the port it sat beside was shipping.

Workings

Two shafts, the A and B pits, sunk from September 1853 with coal drawn from May 1858. The returns record plain coal to 1890 and steam coal from both pits from 1894 onward.

Closure

The colliery closed in 1926, before nationalisation.

What remains

The colliery has been cleared and the site absorbed into the built-up area around Blyth; nothing is recorded of surviving structures.

Related mines

• Choppington 'A' Pit — Both collieries were worked by the same companies — the Bebside & Choppington Coal Co. in the 1880s and the Bebside Coal Co. from the 1890s — which took their name from the two places.
• Choppington 'B' Pit — Both collieries were worked by the same companies — the Bebside & Choppington Coal Co. in the 1880s and the Bebside Coal Co. from the 1890s — which took their name from the two places.
• Horton Grange Colliery — Horton Grange's plans are titled 'formerly Bebside': it worked the old Bebside Colliery's ground from 1934. Kept as two records: whether Horton Grange reused Bebside's shafts is not established.

Disasters & major incidents

• Bebside Colliery roof fall, 1905
  15 July 1905 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 3 fatalities
  Two deputies and a fitter watching the first trial run on a newly extended rope haulage in the Bensham seam at Bebside Colliery, Northumberland, on 15 July 1905 were killed when a snagged tail rope tore out a sheave frame, drew the props and brought down the roof.

What's uncertain

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

• Bebside was formerly a mining village west of Blyth, a township in Horton parish and from 1866 a civil parish of its own until it was absorbed into Blyth in 1920. Its mine operated between 1858 and 1926, and it was served by Bebside railway station from 1850 to 1964. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking began on 13 September 1853 and the colliery opened in May 1858. ¹
• The colliery was held by Lambert & Co. in the 1850s, Lambert, Nicholson & Co. in the 1860s, the Bebside & Choppington Coal Co. in the 1880s and the Bebside Coal Co. from the 1890s — the same companies that worked the Choppington pits a few miles away. ¹
• From 1894 both the A and B pits returned steam coal. ¹
• The Durham Mining Museum records no disaster of five or more killed at Bebside, though it lists 94 named fatalities across the colliery's working life. ¹
• The colliery closed in 1926. ^1,2
• Bebside was formerly a mining village west of Blyth, a township in Horton parish and from 1866 a civil parish of its own until it was absorbed into Blyth in 1920. Its mine operated between 1858 and 1926, and it was served by Bebside railway station from 1850 to 1964. (uncertain) ²
• In 1535 the prior and convent of Tynemouth leased to Nicholas Mitford and John Preston a coal pit with two picks to be wrought in the fields of Bebside and Cowpen for seven years, and in 1538 half a coal pit in the same fields to Richard Benson of Durham for the use of two salt pans; in 1595 the Crown leased the whole of its coal mines in the fields of Cowpen and Bebside, with nine salt pans, to Peter Delaval, a London merchant, and Ambrose Dudley. Later, Saunders and Paramore spent great sums on pits in Cowpen and Bebside connected to the river by wooden wagonways, apparently the earliest recorded in the district, before deserting the works two years later. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Bebside Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Bebside — Wikipedia
3. (secondary) Early Coal Mines (blythtown.net, from the Northumberland County History) — Blyth Town

Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 24 September 2026