Hesleyside Colliery

Overview

A small colliery on the banks of the North Tyne near Bellingham, begun about 1902-04 and worked by a handful of men; by the 1930s a single man worked it.

History

Hesleyside Colliery stood on the banks of the North Tyne near Bellingham. Sinking and drifting began with three men in 1902, and the pit was at work from about 1904. John Meggeson owned it in the 1900s and John Gray in the 1910s, when it worked the Limestone Coal with between four and thirteen men; its coal was advertised for cooking and baking, with deliveries to any station on the North British Railway.

The 1922 Ordnance Survey shows a level on the east of the site with a small tramway, a loop and a siding, ventilation shafts in the fields to the south, one small building and a weighing machine on the access road. In the 1920s the Hesleyside Colliery Company worked the Corriteth seam for gas and steam coal with up to twelve men; the pit stood idle in 1924 and 1925, and plans of the Corriteth or Hartley Main workings are dated as abandoned on 1 November 1927. From 1930 Morris and Summerside worked the Hartley Main with a single man, who did every job needed to keep the pit going; it was still at work in 1935.

Geology

The Limestone Coal, then the Corriteth seam, also recorded as the Hartley Main.

Workings

A level with a small tramway, loop and siding, and ventilation shafts to the south.

Closure

Working with one man in 1935; the closing date is not recorded.

What remains

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking and drifting at Hesleyside Colliery began with three men in 1902, and the pit was working from about 1904. ^1,2
• Hesleyside was owned by John Meggeson in the 1900s, John Gray in the 1910s, the Hesleyside Colliery Company in the 1920s and Morris and Summerside in the 1930s. ¹
• Hesleyside coal was advertised in the 1900s for cooking and baking, delivered to any station on the North British Railway. ²
• Plans of the Hesleyside Corriteth or Hartley Main workings are dated as abandoned on 1 November 1927. ³
• In the 1930s Hesleyside Colliery was worked by a single man. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Hesleyside Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Hesleyside Colliery — North East Heritage Library (Coals Archive)
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21902574: Hesleyside, Corriteth or Hartley Main, abandoned 1 November 1927 — British Geological Survey

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