Carterthorne Colliery

Overview

A colliery and group of drifts west of Toft Hill near Evenwood, worked by the 1850s and held by Henry Chaytor in the 1860s; it employed over 300 in 1923 and was abandoned in April 1927.

History

Carterthorne Colliery lay near Evenwood, twelve and a half miles south-west of Durham, among the workings west of Toft Hill towards Wind Mill and Morley. Its coal is in the returns by 1855, and Henry Chaytor held the colliery in the 1860s; J. Mein is also named as working Morley and Carterthorne. It stood idle in 1880 and was standing in 1882 and 1883. The Carterthorne Colliery Company had it in the 1900s, and in April 1902 the Constantine seam was abandoned as not profitable to work.

In the twentieth century the colliery was a South Pit and a group of drifts: the Brockwell, Moor Hill and Windmill drifts in the Brockwell seam, the South Busty drift, and drifts in the Marshall Green and Victoria, raising household and manufacturing coal and, by the 1920s, coking and steam coal. Employment rose from 142 in 1902 to 256 in 1915 and 328 in 1923. Carterthorne and West Carterthorne collieries were joined by a tramway to the North Eastern Railway's Bishop Auckland and Barnard Castle branch near Evenwood station.

The workforce fell to 217 in 1925, and by 1927 only the Brockwell drift was at work, with two men. Its Brockwell and Five Quarter workings, recorded as Carterthorne and Carterthorne New, with North, Providence and South pits, were abandoned on 5 April 1927, and Carterthorne was among the collieries closed that year. The museum's list of those killed holds four names, among them a collier run over by the engine set while going outbye in 1876.

Geology

Durham coalfield, south-west edge: the Constantine seam (abandoned 1902), the Brockwell, Five Quarter or Busty, Victoria and Marshall Green.

Workings

The South Pit and the Brockwell, Moor Hill, Windmill and South Busty drifts, with Marshall Green and Victoria drifts in 1915; plans also name North and Providence pits.

Closure

Reduced to the Brockwell drift and two men by 1927; its Brockwell and Five Quarter workings were abandoned on 5 April 1927 and the colliery closed.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Henry Chaytor held the colliery in the 1860s and the Carterthorne Colliery Company in the 1900s. ¹
• The Constantine seam was abandoned in April 1902 as not profitable to work. ^1,2
• Employment rose to 328 in 1923. ¹
• The Carterthorne collieries linked into the Barnard Castle branch at Evenwood station. ³
• Carterthorne and Carterthorne New were abandoned on 5 April 1927. ^2,4
• Carterthorne near Evenwood closed in 1927. ^5,1
• Carterthorne and West Carterthorne collieries, west of Toft Hill, were linked by a tramway into the Bishop Auckland to Barnard Castle branch near Evenwood station. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Carterthorne Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Carterthorne Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) The Auckland Coalfield (The Gaunless Valley in World War 1) — The Fallen Servicemen of South West County Durham
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Carterthorne and Carterthorne New — British Geological Survey
5. (secondary) The North East 1920-1938 (England's North East) — England's North East (David Simpson)
6. (secondary) Railways (Evenwood, Ramshaw and District History Society) — Evenwood, Ramshaw and District History Society

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