Marshall Green Colliery

Overview

A small coal and fireclay mine near Witton-le-Wear, won in 1846, which worked the Marshall Green seam and ganister clay for brick and refractory firms with up to 33 men until 1955.

History

Marshall Green Colliery lay near Witton-le-Wear, in the Wear valley about ten miles south-west of Durham. The Durham Mining Museum dates it from 1830; the colliery was won in 1846, and in 1853 a series of bore-holes was put down to prove the coals and local ironstone lying below the Main Coal or Brockwell seam. Skinner owned it in the 1850s and G. Pears and Co. in the 1860s.

It was always small, and as much a fireclay mine as a colliery. The Marshall Green Coal Company held it in the 1880s, with J. O. Walton as manager and five men in 1883; its Upper, Middle and Lower fireclay seams were abandoned on 3 July 1888. The Wear Valley Coal and Brick Company worked it in the 1900s, raising manufacturing coal and fireclay from the Marshall Green seam and the ganister, with between 10 and 33 men, under J. G. Suggett and then A. Suggett, who managed it from 1915 to 1950.

Pease and Partners owned it in the 1930s and Livingstone Refractories Ltd in the 1940s, when it was raising mainly fireclay with some household coal. The museum gives 1936 as its closing date, but it is returned with 16 to 27 men until 1955, the date of its plans of the Ganister Clay and Marshall Green seams.

Geology

The Marshall Green seam, with ganister clay and Upper, Middle and Lower fireclay seams; coals and ironstone lie below the Main Coal or Brockwell.

Workings

Small workings in the Marshall Green coal and the ganister and fireclay seams, worked for brickmaking and refractories.

Closure

The fireclay seams were abandoned in 1888; the museum gives 1936 for closure, but the mine is returned until 1955, when its Ganister Clay and Marshall Green plans were closed.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

What's uncertain

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

• Closed in 1936. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• Marshall Green Colliery was won in 1846. ¹
• In 1853 bore-holes were put down to prove the coals and ironstone below the Main Coal or Brockwell seam. ¹
• Its Upper, Middle and Lower fireclay seams were abandoned on 3 July 1888. ^2,3
• Employed 33 people in 1915. ¹
• A. Suggett was manager from 1915 to 1950. ⁴
• Closed in 1936. (disputed) ¹
• Its Ganister Clay and Marshall Green seam plans are dated 1955. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Marshall Green Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Catalogue of Plans of Abandoned Mines: Marshall Green Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Marshall Green Mine Plans (Mining Remediation Authority plan OM2300, fireclay Upper, Middle and Lower seams, abandoned 3 July 1888) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (primary) Marshall Green Colliery: Colliery Management (prior to 1970) — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) Marshall Green Mine Plans (Mining Remediation Authority plan D554, Ganister Clay, 1955) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026