Delaval Benwell Colliery

Overview

A Scotswood colliery and firebrick works of John O. Scott, west of Newcastle, worked from the mid-19th century until its Low Main seam was exhausted in May 1901; its restored drift entrance survives on Scotswood Road.

History

Delaval Benwell Colliery lay at Scotswood, about three miles west of Newcastle. It was first called the Delaval Colliery and appears as Delaval Benwell Colliery on the second edition Ordnance Survey map. Its opening is put in the 1850s, though one record finds it absent from the first edition map and so opened after 1858. John O. Scott and Company owned it in the 1860s and John O. Scott from the 1880s.

It raised coal and fireclay, and from 1873 to 1906 the colliery had its own firebrick works, which made five million firebricks in 1900. It employed 85 people in 1894, 43 in 1896 and 50 in 1900, under managers including Thomas Potts, Charles J. Murton and R. S. Anderson. In October 1873 two young hewers were killed by a fall of band and coal. Its Low Main workings were planned with Benwell Colliery's, and the Low Main was abandoned on 15 May 1901, the coal exhausted.

The gated drift entrance to the Scotswood Delaval mine survives on Scotswood Road; Tyne and Wear County Council restored it in 1986.

Geology

The Low Main seam, with fireclay; plans also cover the Beaumont and Brockwell.

Workings

A drift from Scotswood Road, with workings in the Low Main.

Closure

The Low Main was abandoned on 15 May 1901, the coal exhausted; the firebrick works ran until 1906.

What remains

The drift entrance on Scotswood Road was restored in 1986 and is gated.

A stone-walled drift entrance with a brick arch, a gate and a plaque.

Related mines

• Benwell Colliery — The 1934 catalogue lists Delaval's Low Main, Beaumont and Brockwell workings on the same plans as Benwell Colliery's.

What's uncertain

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

• Delaval Benwell Colliery opened in the 1850s. (disputed) ²
• Delaval Colliery is absent from the first edition Ordnance Survey map, so opened after 1858. (disputed) ³

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery appears as Delaval Colliery and later as Delaval Benwell Colliery on Ordnance Survey maps; its owner was John O. Scott. ^1,2
• Delaval Benwell Colliery opened in the 1850s. (disputed) ²
• Delaval Colliery is absent from the first edition Ordnance Survey map, so opened after 1858. (disputed) ³
• Delaval Colliery had a firebrick works from 1873 to 1906, which made five million firebricks in 1900. ³
• The Low Main seam at Delaval Benwell was abandoned on 15 May 1901, the coal exhausted. ^1,4,2
• The drift entrance to the Scotswood Delaval mine on Scotswood Road was restored by Tyne and Wear County Council in 1986. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Delaval Benwell Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Delaval Benwell Colliery (HER 4071) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
3. (secondary) Delaval Colliery (HER 4307) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
4. (primary) Delaval Benwell Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
5. (observational) Scotswood Delaval Drift, Scotswood Road (Geograph photograph 2838819) — Geograph

Record created: 22 October 2026 · Last researched: 22 October 2026