Longhirst Grange Colliery

Overview

A small colliery at Longhirst near Morpeth, sunk in 1882 and worked by four owners in twenty years. It sold landsale and household coal, never employed more than 25 people, and its Low Main and Plessey workings were abandoned in April 1901.

History

Longhirst Grange Colliery lay near Morpeth, fifteen and a half miles north-north-west of Newcastle. It is a separate working from the neighbouring Longhirst and Longhirst Hall collieries. It was being sunk in 1882, with no one yet employed, and in the 1880s was held first by H. Bell and then by John Thompson & Sons. Its coal was sold locally as landsale in 1883, 1888 and 1890, and later as household coal. Robert Nicholson owned it in the 1890s, with Robert Wood, who held no certificate, as manager. The Longhirst Grange Colliery Co. Ltd followed in the 1900s.

It was always a small pit, employing 17 people in 1894, 16 in 1896 and 25 in 1900. Two men died there. In March 1890 the enginewright John Pringle, 59, fell from the surface into an old shaft he and others were repairing. In February 1896 the hewer William Waddle, 30, was killed by a fall of roof at the face of his bord, eight feet beyond the last plank. The Low Main and Plessey workings were abandoned in April 1901, and in 1902 the colliery was standing, with John Robinson as manager.

Geology

Northumberland Coal Measures: the Low Main and Plessey seams.

Workings

Bord-and-pillar working in the Low Main and Plessey seams, with an old shaft on the site.

Closure

The Low Main and Plessey workings were abandoned in April 1901; the colliery was standing in 1902.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery was sinking in 1882. ¹
• Owned in turn by H. Bell, John Thompson & Sons, Robert Nicholson and the Longhirst Grange Colliery Co. Ltd. ¹
• Employed 17 in 1894, 16 in 1896 and 25 in 1900. ¹
• Robert Wood, without a certificate, managed it in 1894-1900, and John Robinson in 1902. ²
• Its Low Main and Plessey workings were abandoned on 1 April 1901. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Longhirst Grange Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Longhirst Grange Colliery Management — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Mine plan: Longhirst Grange, Low Main & Plessey — British Geological Survey

Record created: 30 September 2026 · Last researched: 2 October 2026