Milkwellburn Colliery

Overview

A colliery of drifts and shafts on the Milkwell Burn near Chopwell and Blackhall Mill, where a staple was sunk between seams in 1840; old shafts were marked on the first Ordnance Survey map, and drifts were still being let to hewers in 1923.

History

Milkwellburn Colliery, recorded in 1840 as the Derwent Milkwell Burn Colliery, lay on the Milkwell Burn near Chopwell, by Blackhall Mill, about nine and a half miles west-south-west of Newcastle. In 1840 a staple was sunk there from the Five Quarter seam down to the Three Quarter seam. The first edition Ordnance Survey map, surveyed about 1855, marks old coal shafts on the site, among them the East Shaft, which was probably out of use by 1856.

The colliery was made up of several workings: the Brockwell Drift, the East Shaft, the Five Quarter Drift and the Three Quarter Drift. Workings in the Three Quarter seam date from 1874, and the colliery was standing, with nobody employed, in 1882 and 1883. It was working again in the 20th century: papers in the Durham Record Office compare the men underground at the Chopwell pits, Whittonstall Drift and Milkwellburn in 1914 and 1917, and notices of December 1922 and June 1923 invited tenders from hewers for driving in its Brockwell and Five Quarter seams. The East Shaft had closed by 1922, and the site has since been reclaimed.

Geology

The Five Quarter, Three Quarter and Brockwell seams.

Workings

The Brockwell Drift, the East Shaft, the Five Quarter Drift and the Three Quarter Drift, with a staple sunk between seams in 1840.

Closure

Standing in 1882 and 1883; the East Shaft had closed by 1922; drifting was still being let in 1923. A closing date is not recorded.

What remains

The site has been reclaimed.

Recorded claims

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

• In 1840 a staple was sunk from the Five Quarter seam to the Three Quarter seam at the Derwent Milkwell Burn Colliery, near Chopwell. ¹
• Milkwellburn Colliery comprised the Brockwell Drift, the East Shaft, the Five Quarter Drift and the Three Quarter Drift. ^1,2,3
• Old coal shafts at Milkwellburn are marked on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of about 1855; the East Shaft was probably out of use by 1856. ^4,5
• Milkwellburn's East Shaft had closed by 1922. ^1,3
• Notices of December 1922 and June 1923 invited tenders from hewers for driving in Milkwellburn's Brockwell and Five Quarter seams. ⁶
• Workings in the Three Quarter seam at Milkwellburn date from 1874. ⁷

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Milkwellburn Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Milkwellburn Colliery — North East Heritage Library (Coals Archive)
3. (secondary) Milkwellburn Colliery (HER 6928) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
4. (secondary) Milkwellburn Colliery, Coal Shafts (and drifts) (HER 3404) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
5. (secondary) Milkwellburn Colliery, East Shaft (HER 3403) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
6. (primary) Milkwellburn Colliery: further research (Durham Record Office references) — Durham Mining Museum
7. (primary) Milkwellburn Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum

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