Castle Eden Colliery

Overview

A deep east Durham colliery at Hesleden, sunk from 1840 and famous for its household coal, which employed 1,100 in the 1890s before it was drowned out; taken over by Horden Collieries in 1900, it was kept as a pumping pit until the National Coal Board closed it in 1959.

History

Castle Eden Colliery, also called the Maria Pit, lay at Hesleden, ten and a half miles east-south-east of Durham, just inside the old sub-district of Monk Hesleden but nearer the village of Castle Eden, which gave the pit its name. Its first owner was a Mr Wilkinson, who leased the land from the Burdons and already owned land across Castle Eden Dene. The Maria Pit was begun on 28 September 1840; in 1841 the census found 34 households at 'Castle Eden New Colliery', almost all of them sinkers, and the parish registers call the settlement South Field Colony and then Castle Eden Colony until 1847. The shaft reached the Hutton seam in 1842.

Messrs. Cook and Co. held the colliery in the 1850s and the Castle Eden Coal Company from 1879. In 1883 it employed 891 below ground. It proved the Five Quarter, Main Coal, Low Main, Hutton and, at 194 fathoms, the Harvey, and worked the first three for more than 1,000 tons a day, most of it shipped from the Hartlepools as best household coal and the small coal coked; its 1,100 men and boys all lived in the colliery village, which had a church, chapels, schools and a Literary Institute of 1856.

The colliery was drowned out in 1892, and in March 1894 the Five Quarter, Main, Low Main and Hutton were abandoned with the mine flooded; local history dates the end of coal working to 1893, or as early as 1877. Horden Collieries Ltd acquired it in 1900 and kept it as a pumping station draining Horden and Shotton; in 1929 it was pumping two million gallons a day to waste while the workings were unwatered for a hoped-for return of 1,500 tons a day. A small development crew worked the Low Main around 1930, but from the 1950s only a pumping crew of eight remained, and the colliery is recorded as closed in February 1959.

Geology

East Durham coalfield beneath the Magnesian Limestone: the Five Quarter (4 ft), Main Coal (4 ft 3 in), Low Main (3 ft 6 in), Hutton (3 ft 2 in) and Harvey (1 ft 8 in at 194 fathoms), with heavy feeders of water.

Workings

The Maria Pit, sunk from 28 September 1840 to 1,243 feet, and the Maurice Pit; from 1900 a pumping station for the Horden collieries.

Closure

Drowned out in 1892, with the main seams abandoned in March 1894; kept by Horden Collieries as a pumping station from 1900 and closed in February 1959, though a pumping crew is still returned into the 1960s.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Horden Colliery — Horden Collieries Ltd took over Castle Eden in 1900 and kept it as a pumping station draining Horden.
• Shotton Colliery — From 1900 Castle Eden was kept by Horden Collieries as a pumping station assisting the drainage of Shotton as well as Horden.

What's uncertain

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

• Castle Eden Colliery succumbed to the economic depression in 1893 and reopened in 1900 only as a pumping station to assist the drainage of Horden and Shotton. (disputed) ³
• Castle Eden Colliery, sunk about 1840, closed in 1877. (disputed) ³
• The colliery, drowned out in 1892 and acquired by the Horden company in 1900, closed under the National Coal Board in February 1959. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• The Maria Pit at Castle Eden Colliery was begun on 28 September 1840 and reached the Hutton seam in 1842. ^1,2
• In the 1841 census 34 households at 'Castle Eden New Colliery' were almost all headed by sinkers, and the parish registers call the settlement South Field Colony to mid-1843 and Castle Eden Colony to mid-1847. ³
• In the 1890s the colliery worked the Five Quarter, Main Coal and Low Main for over 1,000 tons a day, mostly shipped at the Hartlepools as best household coal, with 1,100 men and boys employed. ¹
• Castle Eden Colliery succumbed to the economic depression in 1893 and reopened in 1900 only as a pumping station to assist the drainage of Horden and Shotton. (disputed) ³
• Castle Eden Colliery, sunk about 1840, closed in 1877. (disputed) ³
• The colliery, drowned out in 1892 and acquired by the Horden company in 1900, closed under the National Coal Board in February 1959. (disputed) ¹
• The Five Quarter, Main, Low Main and Hutton workings of Castle Eden Colliery were abandoned in 1894, the mine flooded with water. ^1,4

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Castle Eden Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Castle Eden Colliery: strata sunk through in the Maria Pit, from 1840 — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Castle Eden Colliery (Hesleden) — Durham Records Online
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Castle Eden, Main, abandoned 1894 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

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