Cowpen Colliery

Overview

A Blyth colliery whose A Pit was sunk from 1782 and which added the Isabella Pit in 1848 and the Mill Pit in 1885; it raised steam coal, and the Mill Pit, its last, closed on 12 July 1969.

History

Cowpen Colliery worked the coal of Cowpen township, in Horton parish beside South Blyth, where Slater's 1848 directory said the inhabitants depended almost entirely on the extensive coal mines. The Durham Mining Museum dates the sinking of its A Pit to June 1782, while a local history blog gives 1793 as the year coal was first deep mined at Cowpen, by a partnership of speculators that became the Cowpen Coal Company. Carr & Co. owned the colliery in the 1850s and the Cowpen & North Seaton Coal Company in the 1860s.

In 1848 the owners sank the Isabella Pit, on land they had taken from Messrs Sidney and Harbottle in 1840, to the Low Main seam at 111 fathoms; the museum dates the start of sinking to 30 October 1848. A railway from Blyth to Hartley, made in 1847, connected the colliery with the line from Seghill to the Tyne, and the whole system became the Blyth and Tyne Railway. The Mill Pit followed, with sinking from 26 January 1885. The museum also lists a B Pit and a Straker Pit.

Returns show 568 people employed in 1915, 321 of them below ground, then 371 in 1921 and 326 in 1930. The Yard seam was worked from 1915 to 1925 and abandoned on 18 February 1928; the Five Quarter is returned in 1930 and the High Main in 1935. The output was steam coal, with household coal in 1925. The blog puts the Isabella Pit's peak in the 1930s at 917 men. The Isabella closed on 12 February 1966 and the Mill Pit on 12 July 1969.

Four men, the master sinker Francis Reay and the shaftmen Stephen Herron, James Reay and Joseph Wright, were killed on 15 March 1841 while repairing the shaft. Pairs of men or boys were killed together by falls of stone in 1856, 1866 and April 1957. The museum lists 124 names in all.

Geology

The Low Main was reached at 111 fathoms in the Isabella Pit. The Yard seam was worked from 1915 to 1925, the Five Quarter in 1930 and the High Main in 1935.

Workings

The Durham Mining Museum lists the A Pit, the B Pit, the Isabella Pit, the Mill Pit and the Straker Pit. A railway from Blyth to Hartley carried the coal.

Closure

The Isabella Pit closed on 12 February 1966 and the Mill Pit on 12 July 1969; the closure dates of the other pits are not given. The Yard seam was abandoned on 18 February 1928.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Cambois Colliery — The Cowpen & North Seaton Coal Company owned both Cowpen and Cambois in the 1860s.
• Isabella Colliery, Blyth — The Durham Mining Museum files the Isabella Pit under Cowpen Colliery; the Cowpen owners sank it in 1848.
• Mill Pit, Blyth — The Durham Mining Museum files Mill Pit under Cowpen Colliery; the Cowpen and North Seaton company sank it in 1885.
• Newsham Colliery — Both were owned by the Cowpen & North Seaton Coal Company in the 1860s and the Cowpen Coal Company in the 1880s.

What's uncertain

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

• Coal was first deep mined at Cowpen in 1793 by a partnership of speculators that became the Cowpen Coal Company. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The sinking of the A Pit began in June 1782. ¹
• Coal was first deep mined at Cowpen in 1793 by a partnership of speculators that became the Cowpen Coal Company. (disputed) ²
• Carr & Co. owned the colliery in the 1850s and the Cowpen & North Seaton Coal Company in the 1860s. ¹
• The Isabella Pit was sunk from 30 October 1848 to the Low Main seam at 111 fathoms and closed on 12 February 1966. ^1,2
• A railway from Blyth to Hartley, made in 1847, joined the line from Seghill to the Tyne to form the Blyth and Tyne Railway. ²
• Sinking of the Mill Pit began on 26 January 1885 and it closed on 12 July 1969. ¹
• The colliery employed 568 people in 1915, 371 in 1921 and 326 in 1930. ¹
• The Yard seam was abandoned on 18 February 1928. ¹
• Four men were killed on 15 March 1841 while repairing the shaft. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Cowpen Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) The Blyth Isabella Pit Early Days (Northumberland Past) — Northumberland Past

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