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. The shaft section survives in the North of England Institute's 1878 account of borings and sinkings: begun on 14 July 1854 and finished in January 1855, the Doctor Pit was sunk from a surface 155 feet above sea level through the High Main at 165 feet, the Yard at 267 feet, the Bensham at 361 feet and the Five-Quarter at 410 feet to the Low Main at 455 feet, the sinking ending at 462 feet (about 141 metres). The pit worked the Five Quarter and Low Main at the turn of the century and took in the Bensham, High Main, Plessey and Yard seams over the following decades; its workforce grew from 643 in 1896 to a peak of 1,219 in 1935. Three men died in the Low Main seam in 1906 alone: Frank Joyce Straker, a pony putter of 19, and Robert Morris and Matthew Wilson, both hewers, each under a fall of roof or coal. Abandonment plans for the Five Quarter and Yard seams were lodged in 1953 and for the Low Main in 1954; in its last three years, with 549 on the books, the pit worked the Beaumont seam alone, and the final plan for that seam is dated 28 June 1968. Northumberland County Council's own page for the park puts the sinking in the 1860s, but the shaft section and the colliery's records both give 1854-55.

Geology

Coal of the Northumberland field: the shaft section records the High Main, Grey, Yard, Bensham, Five-Quarter and Low Main seams in 462 feet of strata, and the pit later worked the Plessey and Beaumont.

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). Sunk in 1854-55 to 462 feet; worked the Five Quarter, Low Main, Bensham, High Main, Plessey and Yard seams, and the Beaumont alone from 1965 to 1968.

Closure

Closed 2 March 1968, the last of the Bedlington Colliery group's shafts to work. The final abandonment plan, for the Beaumont or Harvey seam, is dated 28 June 1968.

What remains

No colliery structures survive; the site is now home to Doctor Pit Park, a public open space run by Northumberland County Council. The park was laid out in the early 1930s on farmland bought by the Bedlington Coal Company for its miners' recreation, and today holds a Green Flag Award, with a pavilion, bowling green and play areas.

Related mines

• Bedlington 'A' Colliery — Two pits of the one Bedlington Colliery, owned together by the Bedlington Coal Co. from the 1860s and by the NCB from 1947.
• Bomarsund Colliery — The F Pit of the same Bedlington Colliery group, owned together by the Bedlington Coal Co. and then the NCB.
• West Sleekburn Colliery — Lettered pits of the Bedlington Coal Company: West Sleekburn was Bedlington 'E'.

Disasters & major incidents

• Bedlington Colliery fall of stone, 1878
  20 September 1878 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 2 fatalities
  On 20 September 1878 two deputies were killed by a fall of stone at Bedlington Colliery, in Northumberland.

Culture

• Dr Pit Colliery Welfare F.C. (Sports)
  The pit the club was named after: Doctor Pit, D Pit of Bedlington Colliery, beside whose welfare park the club played.

What's uncertain

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

• Northumberland County Council's page for Doctor Pit Park dates the sinking of the pit to the 1860s. (disputed) ⁹

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
• Sinking of the Doctor Pit began on 14 July 1854 and was finished in January 1855, from a surface 155 feet above sea level: the High Main seam was met at 165 feet 8 inches, the Yard at 267 feet, the Bensham at 361 feet, the Five-Quarter at 410 feet and the Low Main, 5 feet 7 inches thick, at 455 feet 10 inches, the sinking ending at 462 feet (about 141 metres). ³
• The Doctor Pit employed 643 people in 1896, passed 1,000 by 1921 and peaked at 1,219 in 1935; 549 were employed in its final years from 1965 to 1968. ¹
• The pit worked the Five Quarter and Low Main seams in 1905, added the Bensham by 1910, the High Main by 1915 and the Plessey and Yard by the 1920s; from 1965 until closure in 1968 it worked the Beaumont seam alone. ¹
• Abandonment plans for the Doctor Pit's Five Quarter and Yard seams were lodged in 1953 and for the Low Main in 1954; the final plan, for the Beaumont or Harvey seam, is dated 28 June 1968. ^4,5
• Three men were killed in the Low Main seam of the Doctor Pit in 1906: Frank Joyce Straker, a pony putter aged 19, under a roof fall on 5 April; Robert Morris, a hewer aged 23, under a fall of coal on 30 July; and Matthew Wilson, a hewer aged 29, under a roof fall on 12 October. ^6,7,8
• Doctor Pit Park was laid out in the early 1930s on farmland bought by the Bedlington Coal Company for the recreation of its miners and their families; it holds a Green Flag Award and has a pavilion, bowling green and play areas. ⁹
• Northumberland County Council's page for Doctor Pit Park dates the sinking of the pit to the 1860s. (disputed) ⁹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Bedlington Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Bedlington Colliery Doctor Pit — North East Heritage Library
3. (primary) Bedlington Colliery shaft details: Doctor Pit — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Bedlington Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) Abandonment plan: Bedlington "D", Beaumont or Harvey seam — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
6. (primary) Fatal accident at Bedlington Doctor Pit, 5 April 1906: Frank Joyce Straker — Northern Mine Research Society
7. (primary) Fatal accident at Bedlington Doctor Pit, 30 July 1906: Robert Morris — Northern Mine Research Society
8. (primary) Fatal accident at Bedlington Doctor Pit, 12 October 1906: Matthew Wilson — Northern Mine Research Society
9. (secondary) Doctor Pit Park, Bedlington — Northumberland County Council

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026