Hill Top Harvey Colliery

Overview

A drift colliery at Hill Top, Langley Park, in Esh parish, which grew from six men in 1894 to over three hundred in 1910 working the Hutton and Low Main for coking coal, and ended as Sadler's and then the NCB's Harvey Drift in the early 1950s.

History

Hill Top Colliery lay at Hill Top, Langley Park, in the parish of Esh, north-west of Durham; it is also recorded as Malton Hilltop Colliery. A hewer was found dead at the bottom of the pit there in May 1883. Whellan's directory of 1894 described the Hutton seam at Hill Top, about four feet thick, as worked to a small extent by a drift, and six men worked there that year.

It then grew quickly on coking coal from the Hutton and Low Main seams: 51 people in 1900, 106 in 1902, 125 in 1905 and 312 in 1910. C. J. Sadler is listed as its agent from 1909 to 1935. By 1921 there was a Harvey and Hutton Drift as well, employing 142, and in 1925 the Hutton Drift worked the Busty, Harvey, Hutton and Low Main. Employment fell to about fifty in the 1930s. In November 1943 a deputy died after falling from a ladder while adjusting the blackout shade on a light outside the fan engine house.

Sir S. A. Sadler Ltd owned it in the 1940s and the National Coal Board from 1947. The Hutton was discontinued in April 1947, and in 1950 the Harvey Drift's returns were included with Malton Colliery's. The Durham Mining Museum gives 1951 as the closing year, but the Colliery Guardian's guides list the Harvey Drift with 149 men in 1951 and 1952 and 40 in 1953.

Geology

The Hutton seam, about four feet thick, and the Low Main, Harvey and Busty, worked for coking coal.

Workings

Drifts: the Hutton Drift, a Harvey and Hutton Drift by 1921, and the Harvey Drift of the 1940s and 1950s.

Closure

The Hutton was discontinued in April 1947; DMM gives 1951 as the closing year, while the Harvey Drift was listed until 1953.

What remains

The site has been reclaimed.

Related mines

• Hamsteels Colliery — Both were owned by Sir S. A. Sadler Ltd. until nationalisation in 1947.
• Malton Colliery — Both were Sir S. A. Sadler Ltd. collieries until 1947, and in 1950 Hill Top's Harvey Drift was returned as part of Malton.

What's uncertain

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

• Hill Top Harvey Colliery closed in 1951. (disputed) ^1,2
• The Harvey Drift at Hill Top was listed with 149 employees in 1951 and 1952 and 40 in 1953. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• In 1894 the Hutton seam at Hill Top, about four feet thick, was worked to a small extent by a drift. ^1,2
• Hill Top employed six people in 1894, 106 in 1902 and 312 in 1910. ¹
• Sir S. A. Sadler Ltd owned Hill Top in the 1940s, and the National Coal Board from 1947. ^1,2
• In 1950 the Harvey Drift's returns were included with those of Malton Colliery. ¹
• Hill Top Harvey Colliery closed in 1951. (disputed) ^1,2
• The Harvey Drift at Hill Top was listed with 149 employees in 1951 and 1952 and 40 in 1953. (disputed) ¹
• In November 1943 a deputy at Hill Top died after falling from a ladder while adjusting a blackout shade outside the fan engine house. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Hill Top Harvey Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Hill Top Harvey Colliery — North East Heritage Library (Coals Archive)

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