Harton Colliery

Overview

A deep colliery at West Harton, South Shields, sunk from 1841 to the Bensham seam at 1,290 feet, then the deepest in the Tyne district; the Astronomer Royal weighed the Earth in its shaft in 1854, and it employed 3,406 in 1921 before closing in July 1969.

History

Sinking began at Harton, in what is now West Harton on the southern side of South Shields, on 10 May 1841. The shaft was a single one, divided in two by a timber brattice, and needed cast-iron tubbing for 474 feet because of a fault; on 10 July 1844 it passed through the Bensham seam at 1,290 feet, the greatest depth then reached in the Tyne district, and the sump was finished on 24 July at 1,320 feet. In 1854 the Astronomer Royal, George Biddell Airy, timed pendulums at the top and bottom of the shaft to calculate the mean density of the Earth.

The colliery was held in the 1850s by W. Blackett, N. Wood, Anderson and Philipson, in the 1860s by the Harton and Hilda Coal Company and from the 1880s by the Harton Coal Company. It worked the Bensham, Hutton and Yard seams for gas, household and steam coal, and employment rose from 782 in 1894 to 1,829 in 1910 and 3,406 in 1921. In 1908 the company opened its electric railway to carry coal from Westoe, Harton and its other collieries.

The Bensham seam was abandoned in February 1936. Under the National Coal Board the colliery raised 340,000 tons with 1,440 men in 1947 and employed 1,932 in 1950, working the Bensham, Five Quarter, Harvey, Hutton and Yard. It closed on 25 July 1969, with the loss of about a thousand jobs.

Geology

Durham coalfield beneath the Magnesian Limestone and a fault requiring 474 feet of tubbing: the Bensham (reached at 1,290 ft), Hutton, Yard, Five Quarter and Harvey seams.

Workings

A single shaft divided by a timber brattice, with 474 feet of cast-iron tubbing, sunk 1841-44 to 1,320 feet; coal carried by the Harton Coal Company's electric railway from 1908.

Closure

Closed on 25 July 1969, with the loss of about a thousand jobs.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• St Hilda’s Colliery — Both held in the 1860s by the Harton and Hilda Coal Company, and later by the Harton Coal Company.
• Westoe Colliery — Both Harton Coal Company collieries, linked by the company's electric railway from 1908.
• Whitburn Colliery — The Harton shaft section is recorded as that of 'Harton and Whitburn Collieries'; both belonged to the Harton Coal Company.

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking at Harton began on 10 May 1841, and on 10 July 1844 the Bensham seam was sunk through at 1,290 feet, the greatest depth then reached in the Tyne district. ^1,2
• The shaft was a single one divided in two by a timber brattice, with cast-iron tubbing extending 474 feet owing to a fault. ¹
• In 1854 the Astronomer Royal, George Biddell Airy, used pendulums at the top and bottom of Harton Colliery to calculate the mean density of the Earth. ^1,2,3
• At its peak, in 1921, Harton Colliery employed 3,406 people. ^1,2
• In 1908 the Harton Coal Company opened an electric railway to carry coal from Westoe, Harton and other local collieries. ²
• Harton Colliery closed on 25 July 1969, with the loss of about a thousand jobs. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Harton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Harton Colliery (1841 - 1969) — Co-Curate (Newcastle University)
3. (secondary) Harton, South Shields — Wikipedia

Record created: 6 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026