Blackfield Colliery

Location	Tow Law, County Durham — 54.7526, -1.8221 (exact)
Commodity	Coal
Type	Coal
Worked	1865–17 September 1928
Maximum depth	125 ft 4 in (Main Coal, sinking section)
Operators	Blackfield Colliery Co. (?–1928), H. K. Spark

Overview

A small colliery at Tow Law on the western moorland edge of the Durham coalfield, opened in 1865 and held by H. K. Spark in the 1860s; by the 1920s four men worked its Main and Top coals, and it closed in September 1928.

History

Blackfield Colliery lay at Tow Law, ten miles west of Durham, high on the moorland edge of the coalfield. It was opened in 1865, and H. K. Spark held it in the 1860s. The account of its sinking records 24 feet of clay and 12 feet of freestone, a thin coal at 37 ft 6 in, the Five Quarter, 3 feet thick, at 48 ft 6 in, and, below grey metal and post, the Main Coal, 3 ft 8 in thick, at 125 ft 4 in.

By the 1920s it was a very small working. In 1925 it was standing, with a single man on the books and the Main seam its only working, and in 1927 the Blackfield Colliery Company, through Anthony Brown, had four men raising steam coal from the Main and Top coals. The Main seam was abandoned on 17 September 1928, and Blackfield was among the collieries of the region closed that year.

Geology

Durham coalfield, western edge: under clay and freestone, a thin coal at 37 ft 6 in, the Five Quarter (3 ft) at 48 ft 6 in and the Main Coal (3 ft 8 in) at 125 ft 4 in; the Main and Top coals were worked for steam coal in the 1920s, and BGS also holds a Brockwell plan.

Workings

A shaft to the Main Coal; worked by four men in 1927.

Closure

Standing in 1925; the Main seam was abandoned on 17 September 1928 and the colliery closed that year.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Nearby mines

Black Prince Colliery — 0.3 miles (0.5 km) E
Houseslip Mine — 0.7 miles (1.1 km) SE
Hedleyhope Colliery — 1.1 miles (1.7 km) E
Viewly Hill Ganister Quarry — 1.1 miles (1.7 km) W
West Thornley Colliery — 1.3 miles (2.1 km) SE

Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (15 km). Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

The colliery opened in 1865. ¹
The Main Coal, 3 ft 8 in thick, lay at 125 ft 4 in. ²
Four men were employed in 1927, working the Main and Top coals. ¹
The Main seam was abandoned on 17 September 1928. ^3,4
Blackfield Colliery at Tow Law closed in 1928. ^5,1

Photographs & further reading

Blackfield Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) (reference)

The museum's page for the colliery, with its owners, its last returns of the 1920s and a link to the account of its sinking.

View source

Sources

(primary) Blackfield Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
(primary) Blackfield Colliery: strata sunk through — Durham Mining Museum
(primary) Blackfield Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
(primary) BGS mine plan: Blackfield, Main seam — British Geological Survey
(secondary) The North East 1920-1938 (England's North East) — England's North East (David Simpson)

Record created: 6 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026