Kimblesworth Colliery

Overview

A colliery three miles north-north-west of Durham, opened in 1873 by the Charlaw and Sacriston owners, whose 'West Leverson Wallsend' coal went to Tyne Dock; it employed more than 1,100 in 1921, lost three men in a shaft accident in 1885, and closed in November 1967.

History

Kimblesworth Colliery was opened in 1873 by the owners of the Charlaw and Sacriston collieries, and the village of Kimblesworth grew up around it in the late nineteenth century. By 1894 the partners Hunter and Elliott worked it with Nettlesworth Colliery: at Kimblesworth the Main Coal, three to four feet thick, was worked by a drift, the Low Main at about 26 fathoms and the Hutton at 38, and the pit raised 1,000 tons a day with 600 men. The coal was shipped mostly at Tyne Dock under the name 'West Leverson Wallsend'. The owners built the colliery school in 1878 and enlarged it in 1884 to hold 520 children.

On 16 August 1885 three men repairing the shaft, Richard and Thomas Carr and John Defty, were thrown about 250 feet to the bottom when a crab rope broke. The No. 3 pit was sunk from 10 September 1894 and reached the Busty seam on 28 June 1895, at 482 feet. Employment rose to 891 in 1910 and 1,132 in 1921, and the colliery worked the Busty, Hutton, Low Main, Main Coal and Brass Thill for gas, household and manufacturing coal.

Under the National Coal Board from 1947 it employed 864, but numbers fell to about 300 in the 1950s, when only the Busty and Hutton, and later the Five Quarter, were worked. It closed on 4 November 1967. The old colliery area now holds a few light industrial works.

Geology

Durham coalfield: the Main Coal (3 to 4 ft, worked by a drift), Low Main (about 26 fathoms), Hutton (38 fathoms) and Busty, with the Brass Thill and Five Quarter.

Workings

Nos 1, 2 and 3 pits (No. 3 sunk 1894-95 to the Busty at 482 ft) and a drift to the Main Coal.

Closure

Closed on 4 November 1967 under the National Coal Board.

What remains

The old colliery area holds a few light industrial works.

Redevelopment

Light industrial works.

Related mines

• Charlaw Colliery — Both held by the Charlaw and Sacriston company and worked by Hunter and Elliott.
• Nettlesworth Colliery — Worked together by Hunter and Elliott; Whellan's 1894 directory describes them as one concern.

Recorded claims

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

• Kimblesworth Colliery opened in 1873 under the Charlaw and Sacriston Coal Company and closed on 4 November 1967. ¹
• The village of Kimblesworth grew in the late 1800s around a colliery which closed in 1967; the old colliery area now holds a few light industrial works. ²
• In 1894 Hunter and Elliott worked Kimblesworth with Nettlesworth; Kimblesworth raised 1,000 tons a day with 600 men, and the coal, shipped mostly at Tyne Dock, was sold as 'West Leverson Wallsend'. ¹
• The No. 3 shaft was begun on 10 September 1894 and reached the Busty seam on 28 June 1895. ^1,3
• The colliery school was built by the owners in 1878 for about £520 and enlarged in 1884 to accommodate 520. ¹
• Kimblesworth's Brass Thill and Low Main workings were abandoned in 1953 and its Harvey in 1954. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Kimblesworth Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) About us (history) — Kimblesworth and Plawsworth Parish Council
3. (primary) Kimblesworth Colliery: strata sunk through in the No. 3 Pit, 1894-95 — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Kimblesworth, Brass Thill, abandoned 1953 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

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