Coronation Pit, Walbottle

Overview

A Walbottle Colliery pit at Throckley named for George IV's coronation, with a village that grew up around it, which took over from Blucher Pit in 1924-25 under the Throckley Coal Company and closed on 20 August 1954.

History

Coronation Pit was one of the pits of Walbottle Colliery, at Throckley about five and a half miles west-north-west of Newcastle. The Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record says it opened in 1820 and was called Coronation Pit to mark the coronation of George IV, and that a village grew up around it; the Durham Mining Museum gives 1800 as the opening year. Walbottle Colliery is recorded from before 1828 and passed through a succession of owners, from J. Lamb and Potters and Joblings' Trustees in the 1850s to the Lemington Colliery Company. The Throckley Coal Company, owners of pits at Heddon, Throckley and Newburn, which had reopened the neighbouring Blucher Pit in 1900, closed Blucher in 1924-25 in favour of workings at the reopened Coronation site. The Hutton seam was abandoned on 8 March 1934. Employment stood at 154 in 1925, 430 in 1935 and 324 in 1940, and the colliery passed to the National Coal Board in 1947. It closed on 20 August 1954, when 312 people were employed.

Geology

The Hutton seam was worked and was abandoned on 8 March 1934.

Workings

Unknown.

Closure

The colliery closed on 20 August 1954, when 312 people were employed, 232 of them underground.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Blucher Colliery — The Throckley Coal Company closed Blucher Pit in 1924-25 in favour of workings at the reopened Coronation site.

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 Durham Mining Museum gives 1800 as the year the colliery opened. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Coronation Pit opened in 1820 and was named to mark the coronation of George IV. ¹
• The Durham Mining Museum gives 1800 as the year the colliery opened. (disputed) ²
• A village grew up around the pit. ¹
• Blucher Pit was closed in 1924-25 in favour of workings at the reopened Coronation site. ^3,1
• Owned by the Throckley Coal Company in the 1940s and by the National Coal Board from 1947. ²
• The colliery closed on 20 August 1954. ²
• Employment was 154 in 1925, 430 in 1935, 324 in 1940, 386 in 1950 and 312 in 1954. ²
• The Hutton seam was abandoned on 8 March 1934. ²
• The Coal Authority holds combined abandonment plans for the Throckley, Blucher and Coronation pits. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Walbottle Colliery, Coronation Pit (HER 3984) — Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record (Sitelines)
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Throckley 'Coronation' Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Walbottle Colliery, Blucher Pit (HER 3939) — Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record (Sitelines)
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: THROCKLEY/BLUCHER/CORONATION — British Geological Survey

Record created: 29 September 2026 · Last researched: 29 September 2026