Brownrigg Colliery

Overview

A small colliery on Redesdale moorland near Otterburn, worked by the Duke of Northumberland with a steam pumping engine in the 1820s and, from the 1880s, by a succession of local owners working the Limestone Coal seam. It closed in March 1905 after water finally overwhelmed its pumping.

History

A colliery at Brownrigg, south of Blakehope Fell in Redesdale near Otterburn, was operated by the Duke of Northumberland using a steam pumping engine in the 1820s, one of several small coal workings recorded across this stretch of moorland by a 2017 archaeological landscape survey. By the 1880s it was in private hands: John Dixon and J. Armstrong are recorded as owners in that decade, with T. Armstrong taking over in the 1890s and D. Armstrong in the 1900s. The colliery worked the Limestone Coal seam, mostly for landsale and household coal, employing seven men in 1894, rising to 23 by 1905. It was a remote, small-scale concern throughout: a sinker, William Elliott, aged 21, was killed by stythe (foul air) while sinking the pit on 13 August 1869, and a hewer, Robert Young, aged 36, was suffocated by stythe on 24 October 1894 after going, apparently out of curiosity or to fetch something, into a place he had been expressly forbidden to enter the previous day because of foul air. The colliery finally closed in March 1905, unable to deal with an influx of water, bringing to an end coal working at Brownrigg that had run, on and off, for the better part of a century.

Geology

Worked the Limestone Coal seam of the Redesdale coalfield.

Workings

A small colliery, pumped by a steam engine from the 1820s; closed in 1905 when an influx of water finally overwhelmed its pumping.

Closure

Closed in March 1905, the colliery record itself giving the cause as inability to deal with an influx of water.

What remains

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Redevelopment

Not established from the sources read for this pass.

Recorded claims

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

• Operated by the Duke of Northumberland using a steam pumping engine in the 1820s, per a 2017 archaeological landscape survey. ¹
• By the 1880s owned by John Dixon and J. Armstrong; T. Armstrong owned it in the 1890s and D. Armstrong in the 1900s. ²
• Employed 7 men in 1894, rising to 13 (1896), 14 (1900), 15 (1902) and 23 (1905), working the Limestone Coal seam mostly for landsale and household coal. ²
• Sinker William Elliott, 21, was killed by stythe while sinking the pit on 13 August 1869; hewer Robert Young, 36, was suffocated by stythe on 24 October 1894 after entering a place he had been forbidden to enter the day before because of foul air. ²
• Closed in March 1905, unable to deal with an influx of water; the colliery's operating history runs from at least the 1820s to 1905. ^2,1

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Redesdale Landscapes through Time, Area 2 — Revitalising Redesdale (heritage landscape survey)
2. (secondary) Brownrigg Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 12 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026