Chilton Colliery

Overview

A south Durham colliery sunk from February 1872 and worked through two pits until January 1966. It changed hands unusually often — the South Durham Coal Company, Lord Eldon, H. Stobart & Co., Pease & Partners and Dorman Long in turn — before nationalisation. The town of Chilton grew around it, and its miners lived in the terraces still known as the Five Rows. No disaster of five or more deaths is recorded there.

History

Sinking at the No. 1 pit began on 29 February 1872 and the colliery opened that year, working two shafts. It passed through more owners than most: the South Durham Coal Company in 1879, Lord Eldon in 1884, H. Stobart & Co. Ltd in the 1900s, Pease & Partners Ltd in 1927 and Dorman, Long & Co. Ltd in 1934, before the National Coal Board took it over in 1947.

Chilton was originally a mining settlement called Chilton Buildings. The mine stood on the site of what is now the primary school, and the miners lived at Windlestone Colliery in terraces named Albert Street, Arthur Street and Prospect Terrace — known locally as the Five Rows from how they look from the front. The colliery closed on 15 January 1966, and Chilton gained town status in 2000. In May 1947 two men were gassed and killed in the pit (see Disasters, below).

Geology

The colliery worked the Coal Measures of the south Durham coalfield, between Ferryhill and Bishop Auckland. No seam is named for this colliery, which is a real gap — the Durham Mining Museum's output returns for it are among its briefest.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

Two shafts, the No. 1 sunk from 29 February 1872. No account of the seams worked or the colliery's arrangements underground is recorded.

Closure

The colliery closed on 15 January 1966.

What remains

The colliery has been cleared; nothing of the pit itself survives on the site. The Five Rows terraces built for the miners survive at Windlestone Colliery.

No colliery structures; the miners' terraces known as the Five Rows survive.

Redevelopment

Chilton primary school now stands on the site of the mine.

Related mines

• Fishburn Colliery — Both were Henry Stobart & Co. Ltd pits: the company held Chilton (as H. Stobart & Co. Ltd) in the 1900s and sank Fishburn in 1910, seven miles to the east.
• Roddymoor Colliery — Both were worked by Pease & Partners, the Darlington Quaker firm whose west Durham group centred on the Peases West coke ovens at Roddymoor.
• Thrislington Colliery — Both were worked by Henry Stobart & Co. Ltd, which took Thrislington over in 1932.
• Windlestone Colliery — Both were pits of the Ferryhill district sunk in the wave that followed the railways: Chilton in 1872 and Windlestone in 1876, and Windlestone is named on the Chilton record.

Disasters & major incidents

• Chilton Colliery gassing, 1947
  28 May 1947 · Gas / Asphyxiation · 2 fatalities
  Two men were gassed and killed together at Chilton Colliery, County Durham, on 28 May 1947, in the National Coal Board's first year of running the pit.

Culture

• Chilton Colliery Recreation Athletic F.C. (Sports)
  The club was the recreation side of Chilton Colliery, taking the pit's name and playing at the colliery village's Recreation Ground.

What's uncertain

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

• Chilton was originally a mining town called Chilton Buildings. The mine stood on the site of the present primary school, and the miners lived at Windlestone Colliery in terraces named Albert Street, Arthur Street and Prospect Terrace, known locally as the Five Rows. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking at the No. 1 pit began on 29 February 1872. ¹
• The colliery was held by the South Durham Coal Company in 1879, Lord Eldon in 1884, H. Stobart & Co. Ltd in the 1900s, Pease & Partners Ltd in 1927 and Dorman, Long & Co. Ltd in 1934, before nationalisation in 1947. ¹
• Chilton was originally a mining town called Chilton Buildings. The mine stood on the site of the present primary school, and the miners lived at Windlestone Colliery in terraces named Albert Street, Arthur Street and Prospect Terrace, known locally as the Five Rows. (uncertain) ²
• The Durham Mining Museum records no disaster of five or more killed at Chilton, though it lists 93 named fatalities across the colliery's working life. ¹
• The colliery closed on 15 January 1966. ¹
• The BGS mine-plans catalogue holds a Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plan titled 'Chilton' (catalogue D955, Main Coal 'G', dated 1964). ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Chilton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Chilton, County Durham — Wikipedia
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans: CHILTON — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 3 September 2026