Hamsteels Colliery

Overview

A colliery and coke works near Esh Winning, begun in 1867 by R. S. Johnson and T. M. Reay and carried on as 'the owners of Hamsteels Collieries'. Whellan's directory of 1894 found four seams worked -- Brockwell, Upper and Lower Busty and Harvey -- from two shafts of 35 and 20 fathoms and three drifts, with 280,000 tons a year when fully at work, three quarters of it turned into coke on the spot, and 680 men and boys employed. Sir S. A. Sadler's company held it by the 1910s and the National Coal Board from 1947; it closed in 1958.

History

Hamsteels Collieries and coke ovens were commenced in 1867 by R. S. Johnson and T. M. Reay and were being carried on by the 1890s under the title 'the owners of Hamsteels Collieries'. Whellan's Directory of County Durham described four seams at work in 1894: the Brockwell averaging three feet six inches, the Upper Busty one foot eight, the Lower Busty two feet four and the Harvey about three feet eight, the last drifted in 1890 and not of equal quality to the others. There were two shafts, of 35 and 20 fathoms, and three drifts, giving a total yearly output when fully working of 280,000 tons, three quarters of which was converted into coke on the spot. The colliery then employed 680 men and boys in its various branches. The workings spread through a series of drifts named on the museum's page -- the Clifford, Hall Harvey, Harvey, Hutton and West Harvey drifts -- alongside the Taylor Pit. The Harvey seam was abandoned in 1903 with its coal exhausted, and the Lower and Upper Busty on 20 June 1929. Sir S. A. Sadler Ltd held the colliery in the 1910s and the National Coal Board took it over in 1947. Employment was 821 in 1883 and 563 in 1894. The colliery closed in 1958; the museum names 33 men and boys killed there and records no disaster of five or more.

Geology

Four seams of the Durham coalfield: the Brockwell at about three feet six inches, the Upper Busty at one foot eight, the Lower Busty at two feet four and the Harvey at about three feet eight, the Harvey drifted in 1890 and of poorer quality than the rest.

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

Workings

Two shafts, of 35 and 20 fathoms, and three drifts in 1894, with more drifts over the colliery's life -- the Clifford, Hall Harvey, Harvey, Hutton and West Harvey -- and the Taylor Pit. Coke ovens on the site took three quarters of the output.

Closure

The Harvey seam was abandoned in 1903 with its coal exhausted and the Lower and Upper Busty seams on 20 June 1929. The colliery closed in 1958 under the National Coal Board; Co-Curate gives its span as 1867 to 1958 and the museum's page as 1868 to 1958.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown; the colliery stood on farmland between Quebec and Esh Winning, and its drifts ran through the fields above Hamsteels Beck.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Nearby mines

• Cornsay Colliery — 1.5 km W
• Ushaw Moor Colliery — 3.8 km E
• Burnhope Colliery — 5.1 km N
• Bearpark Colliery — 6.1 km E
• Brandon Colliery — 7.0 km SE

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Hamsteels Collieries and coke ovens were commenced in 1867 by R. S. Johnson and T. M. Reay and were later carried on under the title 'the owners of Hamsteels Collieries'; the museum's page dates the colliery from 1868. (disputed) ^1,2

Recorded claims

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

• Hamsteels Collieries and coke ovens were commenced in 1867 by R. S. Johnson and T. M. Reay and were later carried on under the title 'the owners of Hamsteels Collieries'; the museum's page dates the colliery from 1868. (disputed) ^1,2
• Whellan's directory of 1894 records four seams worked -- the Brockwell at three feet six inches, the Upper Busty at one foot eight, the Lower Busty at two feet four and the Harvey at about three feet eight -- from two shafts of 35 and 20 fathoms and three drifts. ¹
• The colliery's yearly output when fully working was 280,000 tons, three quarters of it converted into coke on the spot, and it employed 680 men and boys in its various branches. ¹
• The Harvey seam was abandoned in 1903 with its coal exhausted, and the Lower and Upper Busty seams on 20 June 1929. ¹
• Sir S. A. Sadler Ltd held the colliery in the 1910s and the National Coal Board from 1947; it closed in 1958, and the museum names 33 men and boys killed there. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Hamsteels Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Hamsteels Colliery (1867 - 1958) — Co-Curate, Newcastle University

Record created: 20 September 2026 · Last researched: 20 September 2026