Derwent Colliery

Overview

A Consett Iron Company colliery at Medomsley, sunk in the 1850s by Edward Richardson, which fed coking coal to the Consett works for a century, employed over 1,500 in 1925 and closed in November 1964.

History

Derwent Colliery lay at Medomsley, in the Derwent valley ten miles south-west of Newcastle, on ground about 750 feet above sea level. It was begun by Edward Richardson; the Record Office, after Whellan's directory, dates it from 1853, and the Durham Mining Museum from 1856. Its first Hutton workings were abandoned in 1857. In 1860 Richardson sold it to the Derwent Iron Company, and from the 1860s the Consett Iron Company owned it until nationalisation. The William Pit cut the Hutton, six feet thick, only about 50 feet down, and the Busty Bank, over twelve feet thick, at about 351 feet.

By 1894 it was working through the William and Hunter pits, with 652 men, raising coking and manufacturing coal; Charlie and D pits are also recorded. The Hutton of the William and Hunter pits was worked out and abandoned in 1900. Employment rose to over a thousand by 1910 and 1,567 in 1925, from the Brockwell, Busty, Three Quarter, Hutton, Little Coal, Main Coal and Towneley.

Under the National Coal Board from 1947 it raised 123,000 tons of coking coal with 672 men. Three men, a timber drawer and two stonemen, were killed by an explosion and fire on 9 February 1947. The Towneley was abandoned in 1952 and the Main and Little Coal in 1955, and with 282 men left the colliery closed on 21 November 1964, its Brass Thill, Hutton and Busty workings abandoned.

Geology

North-west Durham coalfield, about 754 ft above sea level at the William Pit: the Hutton (6 ft) at about 50 ft, the Little Coal at about 99 ft, the Towneley or No. 1 (Beaumont or Harvey) at about 251 ft, the Hodge or Ryton, the Stone Coal or Tilley, the Busty Bank (12 ft 2 in) at about 351 ft and the Three Quarter at about 398 ft.

Workings

The William, Hunter, Charlie and D pits.

Closure

Closed on 21 November 1964; its Little Coal or Brass Thill, Main Coal or Hutton, Top and Bottom Busty were abandoned that year.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Eden Colliery — Both begun by Edward Richardson and passed to the Derwent Iron Company and then the Consett Iron Company.

What's uncertain

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

• Derwent Colliery opened in 1856. (disputed) ¹
• Derwent Colliery was opened in 1853. (disputed) ²
• The D Pit is recorded as opened in 1924. (disputed) ⁵
• The Charlie, D and Hunter pits are recorded as opened in 1889. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• Derwent Colliery opened in 1856. (disputed) ¹
• Derwent Colliery was opened in 1853. (disputed) ²
• Edward Richardson sold the colliery in 1860 to the Derwent Iron Company; the Consett Iron Company owned it from the 1860s. ^1,2
• At the William Pit the Hutton seam, six feet thick, lay about 50 feet down. ³
• Employment reached 1,567 in 1925. ¹
• The Hutton seam was abandoned in 1900, the mineral exhausted. ^1,4
• The D Pit is recorded as opened in 1924. (disputed) ⁵
• The Charlie, D and Hunter pits are recorded as opened in 1889. (disputed) ¹
• Derwent Colliery closed on 21 November 1964. ^1,2
• The Little Coal or Hutton section was abandoned in 1955. ^4,6

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Derwent Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Durham Collieries: Derwent Colliery (Medomsley) — Durham County Record Office
3. (primary) Derwent Colliery: strata at the William Pit — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) Derwent Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
5. (secondary) Durham Collieries: Derwent Colliery (D Pit) (Medomsley) — Durham County Record Office
6. (primary) BGS mine plan: Derwent, Little Coal (or Hutton section), 1955 — British Geological Survey

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