Lambton Colliery

Overview

The Lambton family's colliery at Fencehouses, opened in 1790 and worked through a series of pits -- A, B, C, D, Lady Anne and William Henry -- under the Earl of Durham. Whellan's directory of 1894 found the D pit working the Five Quarter at 53 fathoms, the Main coal at 63 and the Maudlin at 73. The family firm became Lambton Collieries Ltd in 1896, merged with Hetton in 1910 and with Joicey in 1924, and was nationalised in 1947. An explosion in 1766 cost six lives, and the museum names 132 men and boys killed here over the colliery's life. It closed on 27 February 1965.

History

Coal had been taken on the Lambton estates since the 1600s, and commercial working was developed by John Lambton through the Wear valley, the first of seven pits at Bournmoor being sunk from 1783. The colliery at Fencehouses that carried the family name opened in 1790, with the C pit sunk in 1791, and grew into a group: the A, B, C and D pits, the Lady Anne and the William Henry. An explosion on 22 August 1766 -- before the colliery proper -- cost six lives at Lambton. By 1820 the Earl of Durham was the owner. Whellan's directory of 1894 described the D pit, the property of the Earl, as meeting the Five Quarter seam at 53 fathoms, the Main coal of six feet at 63 fathoms, the Maudlin of four feet at 73 fathoms and the Low Main of three feet below that. Employment stood at 311 in 1883, 968 in 1905 and 1,551 in 1925, falling to 1,094 by 1945 and 454 at the end. The family business was formally renamed Lambton Collieries Ltd in 1896. It merged with Hetton Collieries in 1910 to become Lambton and Hetton Collieries, took in Joicey Collieries in 1924 as Lambton, Hetton and Joicey, and passed to the National Coal Board on nationalisation in 1947. Its railway network was among the most extensive the Board inherited. Lambton Colliery closed on 27 February 1965; the Durham Mining Museum names 132 men and boys killed there.

Geology

Durham coalfield seams reached in succession at the D pit as Whellan recorded them in 1894: the Five Quarter at 53 fathoms, the Main coal of six feet at 63, the Maudlin of four feet at 73 and the Low Main of three feet below.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

A group of pits rather than one: the A, B, C (sunk 1791), and D pits, the Lady Anne and the William Henry, served by the Lambton railway, one of the most extensive colliery networks in the county and later inherited by the National Coal Board.

Closure

The National Coal Board closed Lambton Colliery on 27 February 1965, after 175 years of working under the Lambton family and their successor companies.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown; the Lambton railway's route and its locomotives survive in preservation, several of the engines on heritage railways.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Nearby mines

• Houghton Colliery — 2.1 km E, Tyne and Wear
• Chartershaugh Colliery — 2.8 km N
• Herrington Colliery — 3.5 km NE, Tyne and Wear
• Cocken Colliery — 4.0 km SW
• Harraton Colliery — 4.2 km NW, Tyne and Wear

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

People

• John Lambton · owner, from 1783 — Developed commercial coal working on the family's lands through the Wear valley, the first of seven pits at Bournmoor being sunk from 1783.

Recorded claims

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

• Coal had been worked on the Lambton estates since the 1600s and was developed commercially by John Lambton, the first of seven pits at Bournmoor being sunk from 1783; the Fencehouses colliery opened in 1790, with the C pit sunk in 1791. ^1,2
• An explosion at Lambton on 22 August 1766 cost six lives. ¹
• The Earl of Durham was the owner by 1820; the business became Lambton Collieries Ltd in 1896, merged with Hetton Collieries in 1910 and with Joicey Collieries in 1924, and was nationalised in 1947. ^1,2
• Whellan's directory of 1894 records the D pit meeting the Five Quarter seam at 53 fathoms, the Main coal of six feet at 63 fathoms, the Maudlin of four feet at 73 fathoms and the Low Main of three feet below. ¹
• Employment was 311 in 1883, 968 in 1905 and 1,551 in 1925, falling to 1,094 in 1945 and 454 by the colliery's last years. ¹
• Lambton Colliery closed on 27 February 1965; the Durham Mining Museum names 132 men and boys killed there. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Lambton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Lambton Collieries — Wikipedia

Record created: 20 September 2026 · Last researched: 20 September 2026