Dipton Colliery

Overview

A Derwent valley colliery at Dipton, known from its Delight Pit as the Delight Colliery, opened in April 1855 by John Bowes and his partners and worked by John Bowes & Partners until it closed in November 1940, when it still employed about 850.

History

Dipton Colliery, also known as the Delight Colliery after its Delight Pit, worked the coal beneath Dipton, nine miles south-west of Newcastle, where coal had been drawn from drifts along the Derwent valley long before. A new pit was sunk alongside the Delight Pit to the Bottom Busty seam in 1853, Whellan's directory dates the Delight Pit itself to 1854, and the colliery opened in April 1855 under John Bowes & Co., the partnership of John Bowes, Hutt, Wood and Charles M. Palmer. A new winning was sunk to the Brass Thill in 1867, and the Surtees (No. 2) Pit from February 1883, reaching the Bottom Busty at 398 feet.

By the 1880s the owners traded as John Bowes & Partners Ltd. In 1894 the Delight Pit worked the Hutton (6 ft 6 in), Main Coal (3 ft) and Busty (4 ft 11 in), drew an average of 400 tons a day with 260 men and boys, and turned its small coal into coke in 62 ovens. Employment rose from 245 in 1894 to 487 in 1915 and 860 in 1935.

The museum's list of those killed holds 27 names. They include a stoneman killed by an explosion of firedamp in 1889, two hewers killed together by a fall of coal and band on 4 December 1911, a driller who died in 1936 of tuberculosis brought on by silicosis, and an onsetter who fell 200 feet to the shaft bottom in 1937 after more than 51 years at the colliery.

The colliery still employed 850 in 1940 and closed in November that year. With the South Medomsley (Pontop Hall) colliery and the Lily colliery it was one of the three main pits of the Dipton area.

Geology

Durham coalfield: the Hutton (6 ft 6 in), Main Coal (3 ft) and Busty (4 ft 11 in) in 1894, with the Brass Thill and the Bottom Busty.

Workings

The Delight Pit; a pit sunk alongside it in 1853 to the Bottom Busty; a winning to the Brass Thill in 1867; the Surtees (No. 2) Pit, sunk from February 1883; 62 coke ovens.

Closure

Closed in November 1940.

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 Delight Pit was sunk in 1854. (uncertain) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• Opened in April 1855. ^1,2
• The Delight Pit was sunk in 1854. (uncertain) ¹
• A new pit was sunk alongside the Delight Pit to the Bottom Busty in 1853. ¹
• The Surtees (No. 2) Pit was sunk from February 1883 and reached the Bottom Busty at 398 ft 6 in. ^1,3
• In 1894 the Delight Pit drew about 400 tons a day with 260 men and boys and had 62 coke ovens. ¹
• Also known as the Delight Colliery. ²
• Closed in November 1940. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Dipton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Wikipedia: Dipton, County Durham — Wikipedia
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Dipton Colliery shaft details — Durham Mining Museum

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