East Coanwood Colliery

Location	Coanwood, near Haltwhistle, Northumberland — 54.9270, -2.4689 (approximate)
Commodity	Coal
Type	Coal
Worked	from 1865
Maximum depth	About 522 feet (Engine Pit, 1869)

Overview

A colliery east of Coanwood near Haltwhistle, opened in 1865 and joined to Coanwood Colliery by a tramway, whose Engine Pit of 1869 was sunk through the Five Quarter, Yard and Coom-roof to the Slag seam at 412 feet.

History

East Coanwood Colliery lay east of Coanwood Colliery in the South Tyne valley near Haltwhistle, about eight miles north-north-west of Alston. It was opened in 1865, and a tramway was built to connect it with Coanwood Colliery; a reservoir is shown with it.

Its Engine Pit was sunk in 1869, its section recorded by William Fryar. The shaft passed the Five Quarter seam, six feet two inches thick at 159 feet, the Yard at 171 feet and the Coom-roof, four feet thick, at 313 feet, and reached the Seven-Quarter or Slag seam, five feet two inches thick, at 412 feet; the section goes on to about 522 feet. These were the same seams that Coanwood Colliery worked.

By the time of the second-edition Ordnance Survey map East Coanwood was disused, and the remains of the colliery can still be found.

Geology

The Five Quarter (6 feet 2 inches at 159 feet), Yard (171 feet), Coom-roof (4 feet at 313 feet) and Seven-Quarter or Slag (5 feet 2 inches at 412 feet) seams.

Workings

The Engine Pit, sunk in 1869, connected by tramway to Coanwood Colliery.

Closure

Disused by the time of the second-edition Ordnance Survey map.

What remains

The remains of a disused colliery survive.

Remains of the colliery.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

Coanwood Colliery — Connected by a tramway from 1865; East Coanwood worked the same seams east of Coanwood Colliery.

Nearby mines

Crystallwell Colliery — 0.2 miles (0.4 km) NW
Coanwood Colliery — 1.2 miles (1.9 km) W
Lambley Colliery — 2.3 miles (3.7 km) W
Plenmeller Colliery — 2.7 miles (4.3 km) E
Blackett Colliery — 3.1 miles (5.0 km) NE

Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (15 km). Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

Opened in 1865, with a connecting tramway to Coanwood Colliery. ¹
The Engine Pit was sunk in 1869 and reached the Seven-Quarter or Slag seam at 412 feet. ^2,3
The Engine Pit passed the Five Quarter, Yard and Coom-roof seams. ³
Shown as disused on the second-edition Ordnance Survey map, connected to Coanwood Colliery. ¹
The remains of the disused colliery survive. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

East Coanwood Colliery (Keys to the Past) (reference)

The Northumberland historic environment record for the colliery remains.

View source

Sources

(secondary) Coanwood Colliery, Coanwood (HER N5962) — Keys to the Past (Durham and Northumberland HER)
(primary) East Coanwood Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
(primary) Account of Strata sunk through in the Engine Pit, East Coanwood Colliery, 1869, by William Fryar (An Account of the strata of Northumberland & Durham as proved by Borings & Sinkings) — North of England Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers, via the Durham Mining Museum
(secondary) East Coanwood Colliery (Coanwood) (HER N6335) — Keys to the Past (Durham and Northumberland HER)

Record created: 9 October 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026