Eltringham Colliery

Overview

A colliery and brickworks on the banks of the Tyne near Prudhoe, sunk in 1884, which employed 319 people at its peak in 1902 with West Mickley, was abandoned in 1924 and then worked as a small drift until 1951.

History

Eltringham Colliery stood on the banks of the Tyne near Prudhoe, about nine miles east of Hexham, beside the brick works of the same name. Coal was returned from Eltringham in 1855, 1860 and 1865, Messrs Humble being the owners in the 1860s. The present colliery was sunk and bored in 1884 and 1885 from about 100 feet above sea level to some 366 feet. It was joined by rail to the Newcastle and Carlisle line, with sidings around the winding engine and shaft and a large waste heap to the south.

The Eltringham Colliery Company worked it from the 1880s, raising coal and fireclay, and gas and household coal by the 1890s, with 218 people in 1894. Its cannel was abandoned in November 1899 as unremunerative for want of trade. The West Mickley Coal Company Ltd held it in the 1900s, and in 1902, with West Mickley, it employed 319, its peak; George Eltringham was manager from 1900 to 1924. The Yard, Hodge, Towneley and Tilley seams were abandoned in November 1924.

From 1927 the Eltringham Coal Company worked it again on a small scale, with six to nineteen men in the Five Quarter, Six Quarter, Brockwell and Yard seams, raising manufacturing and steam coal and fireclay. The Five Quarter was given up in October 1930 and an Eltringham Drift in the Six Quarter in 1945, and the last plans, of Eltringham Nos 1 and 2 in the Yard or Three Quarter, are dated 30 June 1951.

Geology

The Yard, Hodge, Towneley, Tilley, Five Quarter, Six Quarter and Brockwell seams, with cannel and fireclay.

Workings

A shaft with a winding engine, later drifts (Eltringham Nos 1 and 2).

Closure

Abandoned in November 1924; reworked from 1927 on a small scale; the last plans are dated 30 June 1951.

What remains

The site has been redeveloped.

Recorded claims

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

• Eltringham Colliery was sunk and bored in 1884 and 1885 to some 366 feet. ^1,2
• In 1902 Eltringham, with West Mickley, employed 319 people. ^1,3
• Eltringham Colliery stood beside the brick works of the same name on the Tyne, joined by rail to the Newcastle and Carlisle line. ³
• Eltringham's cannel was abandoned on 20 November 1899 as unremunerative for want of trade. ⁴
• The Yard, Hodge, Towneley and Tilley seams at Eltringham were abandoned on 24 November 1924. ^1,4,5
• The last plans of Eltringham, of Nos 1 and 2 in the Yard or Three Quarter seam, are dated 30 June 1951. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Eltringham Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Eltringham Colliery: strata sunk and bored, 1884-85 — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Eltringham Colliery — North East Heritage Library (Coals Archive)
4. (primary) Eltringham Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21905210: Eltringham / West Tyne, Yard, 24 November 1924 — British Geological Survey
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21877469: Eltringham Nos 1 and 2, Yard or Three Quarter, 30 June 1951 — British Geological Survey

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