Hedley Colliery

Overview

The Hedley Pit of the South Moor collieries near Stanley, worked by Hedley and Bell and the South Moor Coal Company in the Five Quarter and Main Coal, employing over a thousand with its Charley Pit in the 1900s-20s; it dwindled under the National Coal Board in the 1950s.

History

Hedley Colliery, the Hedley Pit of the South Moor collieries, lay at South Moor near Stanley in north-west Durham, about eight miles north-west of Durham. Hedley and Bell owned it in the 1880s, with Joseph Gray as manager; in 1883 its 143 men were returned together with the Louisa and Morrison pits. Its Charley Pit was standing in 1888 and 1890.

The South Moor Coal Company had it from the 1890s, working the Five Quarter and Main Coal for gas, household and steam coal, with James Fairley and then J. E. W. Fairley as manager. Hedley employed 468 in 1894 and 663 in 1896; with the Charley it employed 1,002 in 1905 and 1,161 in 1925. It shared the Charley Fan upcast shaft with the Louisa Pit, which worked the seams below.

Employment fell to 305 in 1935 but recovered to 850 in 1945. The National Coal Board took it over in 1947 and added the Shield Row seam; 486 worked there in 1950 but only 62 in 1958. The Northern Mine Research Society's list records it as merged with the Louisa. A photograph in the Durham Record shows the Hedley Pit shortly before it was demolished.

Geology

The Five Quarter and Main Coal seams, and from the 1950s the Shield Row, above the Maudlin, Low Main and Hutton worked from the Louisa Pit.

Workings

The Hedley Pit and the Charley Pit, sharing the Charley Fan upcast shaft with the Louisa Pit.

Closure

Employment fell to 62 by 1958; the Northern Mine Research Society records the pit as merged with the Louisa.

What remains

Demolished.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Louisa Colliery — South Moor pits sharing the Charley Fan upcast shaft: Hedley worked the upper seams, Louisa the middle series.

What's uncertain

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

• Merged with the Louisa. (uncertain) ³

Recorded claims

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

• Owned by Hedley and Bell in the 1880s and by the South Moor Coal Company from the 1890s. ¹
• With the Charley Pit it employed 1,161 people in 1925. ¹
• James Fairley was manager from 1888 to 1896 and J. E. W. Fairley from 1900 to 1910. ²
• Employed 62 people in 1958. ¹
• Merged with the Louisa. (uncertain) ³
• The Hedley Pit was photographed shortly before demolition. ⁴
• Hewers at the South Moor Colliery's Hedley Pit were photographed about 1930. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Hedley Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Hedley Colliery: Colliery Management (prior to 1970) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (secondary) Holmside & South Moor Colliery, Hedley Pit (Durham Record DR01397) — The Durham Record (Durham County Council)
5. (secondary) South Moor Colliery, Hedley Pit, hewers (Durham Record DR05019) — The Durham Record (Durham County Council)

Record created: 9 October 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026