Cold Knott Colliery

Overview

A colliery on the high ground near Crook, working by the 1850s, whose shallow shaft cut five seams in under 180 feet; it rose briefly to 276 men in 1923 and closed in April 1926.

History

Cold Knott Colliery lay near Crook, nine and a half miles west-south-west of Durham, in North Bedburn, on ground about 800 feet above sea level. It was working by 1854, and two pits of the name are mapped: one on the Ordnance Survey first edition of 1857, disused by 1898, the other on the maps of 1898 and 1924. Its strata section shows how near the surface the coal lay: the Yard seam at about 23 feet, the Ballarat at about 65, the Five Quarter at about 81, the Busty at about 121, and the Main Coal or Brockwell, 7 ft 4 in thick, at about 169 to 176 feet.

W. H. Wooler held it in the 1860s, and Wooler, Chapman and Company in the 1870s and 1880s; 179 men were on the books in 1883, but it was standing that year. Its Yard and Ballarat workings were abandoned in 1879 and the Five Quarter and Busty in 1885. Thomas Snowdon owned and managed it from the 1890s, when it was a small pit of 13 to 36 men raising household and manufacturing coal, with fireclay in the 1890s; by 1905 it was working the Victoria seam.

From the 1910s it was listed under the Cold Knott Colliery Company and the Woodifield Coal Company, and it grew: 59 men in 1915 and 63 in 1921 working six seams, then 276 in 1923, raising coking and steam coal from the Victoria. Employment fell to 192 in 1924 and 16 in 1925, and the Victoria seam was abandoned when the colliery closed on 28 April 1926.

Geology

Durham coalfield, western side, about 800 ft above sea level: the Yard (4 ft 6 in) at about 23 ft, the Ballarat at about 65 ft, the Five Quarter (3 ft 9 in) at about 81 ft, the Busty at about 121 ft and the Main Coal or Brockwell (7 ft 4 in) at about 169 to 176 ft. The Victoria, Two Quarter and Brockwell were also worked.

Workings

Two pits of the name, one mapped in 1857 and disused by 1898, the other mapped in 1898 and 1924.

Closure

The Yard and Ballarat were abandoned in 1879, the Five Quarter and Busty in 1885, the Brockwell in 1918 and the Victoria in 1926, when the colliery closed on 28 April.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

What's uncertain

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

• The Woodifield Coal Co. Ltd owned the colliery in the 1910s. (disputed) ²
• The Cold Knott Colliery Co. worked it in 1911 and 1919. (disputed) ³

Recorded claims

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

• The Main Coal or Brockwell seam, 7 ft 4 in thick, lay at about 169 to 176 feet. ¹
• Cold Knott was standing in 1883, under Wooler, Chapman and Co. ^2,3
• Thomas Snowdon owned Cold Knott Colliery in the 1890s and 1900s. ^2,3
• The Woodifield Coal Co. Ltd owned the colliery in the 1910s. (disputed) ²
• The Cold Knott Colliery Co. worked it in 1911 and 1919. (disputed) ³
• The Busty and Five Quarter workings were abandoned in 1885. ^2,4
• The colliery closed on 28 April 1926, when the Victoria seam was abandoned. ^2,5
• One Cold Knot pit is on the 1857 Ordnance Survey map and disused by 1898; another is on the maps of 1898 and 1924. ^3,6

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Cold Knott Colliery: section of strata at Coldknott Colliery near Crook — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Cold Knott Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Durham Collieries: Cold Knot Colliery [1] (North Bedburn) — Durham County Record Office
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Cold Knott, Busty seam — British Geological Survey
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Cold Knott, Victoria seam — British Geological Survey
6. (secondary) Durham Collieries: Cold Knot Colliery [2] (North Bedburn) — Durham County Record Office

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