Little Chilton Colliery

Overview

A small colliery at the south end of Ferryhill Station, worked from the 1840s or 1850s until 1865 for the West Hartlepool Dock and Railway Company and Robson and Jackson, which gave the place its first pit cottages.

History

Little Chilton Colliery lay at the south end of Ferryhill Station, about seven miles south-south-east of Durham, and its working began the settlement there. Fifty cottages for the pitmen and their families were contracted for in 1845, and in 1846 the owners advertised for hewers and putters, promising regular work and good houses; chapels and a post office followed. The Durham Mining Museum dates the sinking to August 1852. The pit was joined to the railway by a spur with about four sidings.

It belonged to the West Hartlepool Dock and Railway Company, and in the 1850s to Robson and Jackson. It was as dangerous as any other pit: in 1849 a woman carrying water past the steep tramway used for the small coal was killed by a runaway tub; in January 1858 a young hewer playing near the shaft top after work fell down the shaft; others died under falls of stone, and in 1863 a deputy was killed by the return sheave of the engine plane. The colliery closed in 1865, and the site became quarries again, still served by the railway; lime kilns remain at the entrance.

Geology

Coal; the seam is not recorded.

Workings

A shaft with a steep tramway for small coal and an engine plane, and a railway spur with sidings.

Closure

Closed in 1865; the site returned to quarrying.

What remains

The site has been redeveloped; lime kilns survive at the entrance.

Lime kilns at the old entrance.

What's uncertain

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

• Fifty cottages were contracted for Little Chilton's pitmen in 1845, and hewers and putters were advertised for in 1846. (disputed) ¹
• Sinking at Little Chilton Colliery started in August 1852. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Fifty cottages were contracted for Little Chilton's pitmen in 1845, and hewers and putters were advertised for in 1846. (disputed) ¹
• Sinking at Little Chilton Colliery started in August 1852. (disputed) ²
• Little Chilton belonged to the West Hartlepool Dock and Railway Company and, in the 1850s, to Robson and Jackson. ^2,1
• In 1849 a woman passing Little Chilton's small-coal tramway was killed by a runaway tub. ^2,1
• In January 1858 a 22-year-old hewer fell down the shaft at Little Chilton while near the shaft top after work. ³
• Little Chilton Colliery closed in 1865 and the site returned to quarrying. ^2,1

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Little Chilton Colliery — North East Heritage Library (Coals Archive)
2. (primary) Little Chilton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Little Chilton Colliery: accident of 28 January 1858 — Durham Mining Museum

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