East Hetton Colliery

Overview

A Kelloe colliery sunk in 1836, bought by Walter Scott in 1880 and linked underground to Trimdon Grange, where in 1897 its Harvey seam workings holed into the flooded old Cassop pit and ten men drowned; it worked until 1983 and its site is now a public wood.

History

East Hetton took its name from the colliery at Hetton-le-Hole, seven miles to the north, whose coal was well regarded; Kelloe's was of a similar grade, so the name carried a market value. Locals called the pit and its village Kelloe, and the colliery and the first pit terraces stood at the place now called Old Kelloe, south of the present village. Sinking of the North Pit, then called Kelloe Colliery, began in 1836 and the shaft was taken down to the Harvey seam; a new pit was sunk to the Main Coal in 1856. The colliery was worked by the East Hetton Coal Company until August 1880, when it was bought by Walter Scott, who also owned Trimdon Grange and linked the two collieries underground that year. The Five Quarter was worked out in 1873 and the Main Coal in 1887, and by the 1890s the Low Main, Hutton and Harvey were worked at 89 to 135 fathoms. The colliery had 70 coke ovens and extensive firebrick works using clay from the pit, and employed 1,100, rising to 1,468 in 1896. Its coal went about two miles to Coxhoe Bridge station, and bricks from its works built the houses Walter Scott owned.

At about 3.30 a.m. on 6 May 1897, when few men were below, water burst into longwall workings in the Harvey seam about a mile north of the shaft (see Disasters, below). The workings had holed into old workings of the Cassop colliery, for whose Harvey seam no plan could be found. Ten men were drowned or trapped. To stem the flow a nearby engine house was blown down and its rubble tipped with lime and clay into the old Cassop shaft; one man survived by climbing onto the woodwork of a haulage sheave. The holing itself was not reached until 18 August. On 7 March 1921 two men were killed and four seriously injured when a disused heap they were loading fell on them (see Disasters, below). Most of Quarrington Hill's miners worked at East Hetton. By the 1930s the colliery company also owned Coxhoe Hall, later an army barracks and part of a prisoner-of-war camp, which mining subsidence left to be demolished in 1952. The colliery passed to East Hetton Collieries Ltd in 1935 and the National Coal Board in 1947, and closed in June 1983.

Geology

The Five Quarter (worked out 1873), Main Coal (worked out 1887), Low Main, Hutton and Harvey seams, 2 feet 4 inches to 3 feet 6 inches thick at 89 to 135 fathoms; fireclay from the pit was used for bricks.

Workings

The North Pit, sunk to the Harvey in 1836, and a pit sunk to the Main Coal in 1856; longwall working in the Harvey, an underground link to Trimdon Grange from 1880, and 70 coke ovens and firebrick works at the surface.

Closure

Closed in June 1983, employing 907 as late as 1980.

What remains

The site is now a Durham County Council wood of about 60 hectares named East Hetton Colliery, Kelloe.

A memorial by the road, with standing stones, a plaque and a coal tub lettered 'East Hetton Colliery (Kelloe) 1836-1983'.

Related mines

• Cassop Colliery — Water from Cassop's disused workings broke into East Hetton's Harvey seam in 1897, drowning ten men.
• Trimdon Grange Colliery — Linked underground in 1880, both owned by Walter Scott; the man who survived the 1897 East Hetton flood had been the last brought out alive at Trimdon Grange in 1882.

Disasters & major incidents

• East Hetton Colliery inrush, 1897
  6 May 1897 · Flooding / Inundation · 10 fatalities
  At half past three in the morning on 6 May 1897 water burst into East Hetton Colliery from old workings and drowned ten people. The first warning was water seeping from the face of a longwall in the Harvey seam a mile north of the shaft. The inspector reported that only a limited number of men were below at that hour, and that on a day shift the loss would have been far greater; the water was fought by throwing a demolished engine house, clay and lime into the old Cassop shaft and pumping from every available source.
• East Hetton Colliery fall of material, 1921
  7 March 1921 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 2 fatalities

  On 7 March 1921 two men were killed at East Hetton Colliery, Coxhoe, when a disused heap of coal and other material they were loading fell on them; four others were seriously injured.

  John Gibson, aged 19, and Henry Robinson, a boy, both of Coxhoe, were loading up a disused heap of coal and other material when it fell on them and killed them. Four other men were seriously injured.

Culture

• Kelloe (East Hetton) lodge banner (Labour)
  The lodge banner of East Hetton Colliery, Kelloe, carried at the Durham Miners' Gala.

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking of the North Pit, Kelloe Colliery, began in 1836 and reached the Harvey seam; a new pit was sunk to the Main Coal in 1856. ¹
• Walter Scott bought the colliery in 1880; it was linked underground with Trimdon Grange that year, and Scott owned both collieries. ^1,2
• At about 3.30 a.m. on 6 May 1897 water from old Cassop workings burst into the Harvey seam longwall workings and ten men lost their lives. ^1,3,4
• An engine house was blown down and its rubble, with lime and clay, tipped into the old Cassop shaft to stop the water. ⁴
• Plans of Cassop's Five Quarter and Main Coal were found but none of its Harvey seam, which had been thought barely worked. ^3,4
• East Hetton closed in June 1983. ¹
• The site is listed as East Hetton Colliery, Kelloe, a 59.71-hectare Durham County Council wood. ⁵
• The Five Quarter was worked out in 1873 and the Main seam in 1887; the Main Coal was abandoned as exhausted in 1894. ¹
• Coal went from the pit to Coxhoe Bridge station, about two miles away, and bricks made at the pit were used for houses belonging to Walter Scott, owner of East Hetton and Trimdon Grange. ²
• East Hetton Colliery at Kelloe, opened in 1836 by the East Hetton Coal Company, was named from the colliery at Hetton-le-Hole; Kelloe coal was of a similar grade, so the name carried market value. ⁶
• The pit village was officially East Hetton but called Kelloe locally; the colliery and the first pit terraces stood at the site now called Old Kelloe, south of the present village. ⁶
• Most Quarrington Hill miners worked at East Hetton. ⁶
• By the 1930s Coxhoe Hall belonged to the East Hetton Colliery Company; it later served as an army barracks and part of a prisoner-of-war camp, and subsidence from mining led to its demolition in 1952. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) East Hetton Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) East Hetton Colliery (When I was young in a pit village) — Trimdon Times
3. (primary) East Hetton Colliery Disaster Report (1897 inspector's annual report) (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) East Hetton Colliery Inrush – East Hetton – 1897 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (observational) East Hetton Colliery, Kelloe (woodland listing) — Woodland Trust
6. (secondary) Cassop, Quarrington, Kelloe, Coxhoe, Cornforth — England's North East

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 5 October 2026