Bedlington 'D' Colliery

Overview

Officially D Pit but universally known as Doctor Pit, one of four shafts of the wider Bedlington Colliery group, sunk in 1854 and worked for household and steam coal until 1968.

History

Bedlington 'D' Colliery -- D Pit, though it was known locally simply as Doctor Pit -- was sunk from 14 July 1854 and opened the following year, one of four shafts (alongside A/Engine Pit, E Pit and the later Bomarsund/F Pit) making up the wider Bedlington Colliery group in Northumberland. The group passed from a mid-19th-century partnership -- Davison, Easton, Anderson, Stodart, Bates and Henderson -- to the Bedlington Coal Co. by the 1860s, incorporated as Bedlington Coal Co. Ltd by the 1890s, and to the National Coal Board on nationalisation in 1947. Doctor Pit worked household and steam coal for well over a century, producing 260,500 tons in 1947 alone, before finally closing on 2 March 1968.

Workings

Worked via D/Doctor Pit (grid reference NZ259821), one of four shafts in the wider Bedlington Colliery group; the others were A/Engine Pit (sunk 1838), E Pit (opened 1859) and the later Bomarsund/F Pit (opened 1905, already researched on this site).

Closure

Closed 2 March 1968, the last of the Bedlington Colliery group's shafts to work.

What remains

No colliery structures survive; the site is now home to Doctor Pit Park, a public open space run by Northumberland County Council.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• Bedlington 'D' Colliery and 'Doctor Pit' are the same shaft (grid reference NZ259821), sunk from 14 July 1854 and opened in 1855. ¹
• D Pit produced 260,500 tons of household and steam coal in 1947. ¹
• Doctor Pit accelerated the development of Bedlington into one of Northumberland's largest pit villages. ²

Sources

1. (primary) Bedlington Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Bedlington Colliery Doctor Pit — North East Heritage Library

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 1 September 2026