Chester South Moor Colliery

Overview

The colliery at Chester Moor, between Chester-le-Street and Durham, worked from the 1860s under the owners of neighbouring Waldridge and later Priestman Collieries, deepened to the Busty by a new Fan Pit in 1888, and nationalised; it employed nearly 800 in the 1950s and closed in October 1967, its ponies led out on film.

History

Chester South Moor Colliery, also called Chester Moor Colliery, stood beside the Durham road at Chester Moor, about two miles south of Chester-le-Street and four and a half miles north of Durham. Sowerby, Phillips and Co. held it in the 1860s, and output is returned from 1873. By the 1880s it belonged to Thiedemann and Wallis, who also worked Waldridge Colliery. In 1887 the Chester South Moor Fan Pit, entered in the sinking records as part of Waldridge Colliery, was sunk from the surface to the Busty Bank seam; it opened on 10 November 1888, and in 1889 the colliery was sunk on from the Hutton to the Busty. In 1894 it employed more than 230 men and boys working the Hutton seam, four feet thick, at 40 fathoms, for about 700 tons a day.

Priestman Collieries Ltd later owned the colliery. It worked the Brass Thill, Busty and Hutton for gas and coking coal in the early twentieth century, and its workforce grew from 286 in 1900 to 702 in 1935. Waldridge, which closed in 1926, was linked underground to Chester Moor. Under the National Coal Board from 1947 it raised 145,000 tons that year and employed as many as 783 in 1955, working the Main, Hutton, Low Main, Brass Thill, Busty and Tilley seams.

By 1965 only the Hutton and Tilley were being worked and the workforce had fallen to 198. The colliery closed in October 1967. An amateur film of that autumn shows the pit ponies led out and loaded into horse boxes, the headgear, and the demolition around the colliery as the A167 Durham Road was built through Chester Moor.

Geology

Durham coalfield: the Hutton (four feet thick at 40 fathoms in 1894), Busty, Brass Thill, Harvey, Low Main, Main and Tilley seams, raised as gas, coking and steam coal.

Workings

The South Pit and the Fan Pit (sunk 1887, opened 10 November 1888, to the Busty Bank seam); the Hutton reached at 40 fathoms; linked underground to Waldridge Colliery.

Closure

Closed in October 1967, when the workforce had fallen to 198 and only the Hutton seam was still being worked.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Byron Colliery — Both held by Sowerby, Phillips and Co. in the 1860s.
• Waldridge Colliery — Waldridge was linked underground to Chester Moor before it closed in 1926.

Recorded claims

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

• In 1894 Chester Moor Colliery, worked by Thiedemann and Wallis, employed over 230 men and boys working the Hutton seam, four feet thick, at 40 fathoms, for about 700 tons a day. ¹
• The Chester South Moor Fan Pit was sunk in 1887 from the surface to the Busty Bank seam and opened on 10 November 1888. ¹
• The colliery was held by Sowerby, Phillips and Co. in the 1860s, Thiedemann and Wallis in the 1880s, then Priestman Collieries Ltd, and the National Coal Board from 1947. ¹
• In 1947 the colliery raised 145,000 tons, and its workforce reached 783 in 1955 before falling to 198 by 1965. ¹
• Chester South Moor Colliery closed in October 1967; an amateur film shows its pit ponies led out in the year of closure. ^1,2
• Waldridge Colliery, which closed in April 1926, was linked underground to Chester Moor. ³
• The Tilley workings of Chester South Moor, including the Waldridge D Pit, were abandoned on 2 July 1964. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Chester South Moor Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) The Last of Chester Moor Colliery & St Bartholomew's Church (1967) — Yorkshire & North East Film Archive
3. (secondary) Waldridge, County Durham — Wikipedia
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Chester South Moor inc. Waldridge 'D', Tilley, abandoned 1964 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

Record created: 5 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026