Gloria Colliery, Hartley

Overview

Gloria Colliery was a short-lived pit near New Hartley and Seaton Delaval in south-east Northumberland, sunk by Hartley Main Collieries Ltd in 1935 to reach coal cut off by a horseshoe-shaped fault. It employed about 300 men, raising household and steam coal from the High Main seam, until it closed on 1 June 1951.

History

According to a 1951 News Post Leader article quoted by the Blyth local history site, Gloria was sunk in 1935 to win coal hidden behind a horseshoe-shaped geological fault, in the years after the neighbouring New Delaval pits had been idled in 1930 and reprieved in 1933. The Durham Mining Museum's company tables list it as sinking in 1935 under R. N. Fowler, and a memorial plaque at the site gives its opening as 1936. It was one of the Hartley Main Collieries group: by 1940 it employed 334 (236 underground, 98 on the surface) with W. Wallace as manager, and in 1947, under H. S. Benson, 302, raising 80,500 tons of household and steam coal that year. Employment held at about 300 until 1950. Gloria and the nearby Relief pit left only a small mark on the ground: their coal was processed at the group's larger collieries, and the men lived in the established colliery villages and walked or rode special trains along the company wagonway. The museum gives the closure as 1 June 1951; the plaque says two hundred men were then working out a small reserve of coal.

Geology

The colliery worked the High Main seam (1948-50), in coal isolated by a horseshoe-shaped fault.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

A shaft colliery sunk from 1935, producing household and steam coal from the High Main seam. It had little surface plant: its coal went for processing at the larger collieries of the Hartley Main group by way of the company wagonway.

Closure

Closed on 1 June 1951, with a small reserve worked out. The plaque's figure of two hundred men at closure is lower than the museum's 304 employed in 1950.

What remains

The Blyth local history article describes the site as a large tree-planted spoil mound beside the old wagonway and railway, with a coal tub and plaque placed in commemoration of the pit.

A planted spoil heap and the course of the wagonway; no colliery buildings are recorded as surviving.

Related mines

• Seaton Delaval Colliery — Both Hartley Main Collieries Ltd pits; Gloria's coal was processed at the group's larger collieries.

Nearby mines

• Seaton Delaval Colliery — 1.4 km S
• Seghill Colliery — 3.1 km S
• Bates Colliery — 3.9 km N
• Hartley Colliery (Hester Pit) — 3.9 km SE
• Bebside Colliery — 4.2 km NW

Straight-line distance, within 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.

• Gloria was owned by Hartley Main Collieries Ltd from 1935 to 1946 and by the National Coal Board from 1947 to 1951. ^1,2
• Gloria was sunk in 1935 to reach coal hidden by a horseshoe-shaped geological fault (News Post Leader, 1951). ^1,3
• A memorial plaque at the site gives the opening as 1936. ³
• Gloria employed 334 in 1940 and 302 in 1947, when it raised 80,500 tons of household and steam coal. ^4,1
• The colliery closed on 1 June 1951. ^4,3
• The museum records 304 employed in 1950, the last return before closure. (disputed) ⁴
• The site plaque says two hundred men were working there at closure, working out a small reserve. (disputed) ³
• Coal from Gloria and Relief pits was processed at the larger collieries in the group; men travelled by special trains on the wagonway. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum - Hartley Main Collieries Ltd. — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Gloria Colliery, Seaton Valley, Northumberland, England, UK — Mindat.org
3. (secondary) New Delaval Collieries — Blyth Town (blythtown.net)
4. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum - Gloria Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 12 September 2026 · Last researched: 13 September 2026