Morwood Colliery

Overview

A small Little Limestone colliery near Bardon Mill, worked on a small scale from the 1910s, redeveloped in 1944 and expanded by the National Coal Board to 136 men before it closed on 1 July 1960.

History

Morwood Colliery lay near Bardon Mill, about nine miles west-north-west of Hexham. Coal had been worked there before: a plan of the Barcombe, Morwood or Thorngrafton workings covers 1871 to 1880.

T. H. Thompson worked it in the 1910s, with two men in the Morwood seam in 1921. In the 1920s it worked the Little Limestone coal with a handful of men, and the Morwood East workings, formerly Morwood, were abandoned on 21 December 1928. M. Watson held it in the 1930s.

The colliery was redeveloped in 1944, by the Morwood Colliery Company, and came to the National Coal Board in 1947. It grew from 21 men in 1948 to 92 in 1954 and 136 from 1957, all in the Little Limestone, raising household and steam coal. The Hexham Courant reported in June 1960 that the pit would close on 1 July, and its Little Limestone workings were abandoned that day.

Geology

The Little Limestone coal, and in 1921 a seam called the Morwood.

Workings

Worked the Little Limestone coal; the Morwood East workings were abandoned in 1928, and the later colliery worked the same seam until 1960.

Closure

Closed on 1 July 1960, when the Little Limestone workings were abandoned.

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.

• A plan of the Barcombe, Morwood or Thorngrafton workings covers 1871 to 1880. ¹
• The Morwood East workings, formerly Morwood, in the Little Limestone were abandoned on 21 December 1928. ²
• Employed 136 people from 1957 to 1960. ³
• Being developed in 1944 with three men. ³
• Closed on 1 July 1960. ^4,5,6

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Catalogue of Plans of Abandoned Mines: Morwood Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Morwood East, formerly Morwood Mine Plans (Mining Remediation Authority plan 9843, Little Limestone, abandoned 21 December 1928) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
3. (primary) Morwood Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (secondary) Bardon Mill and Melkridge (Hexham Courant clipping, 10 June 1960) — The Heritage Centre, Bellingham
6. (primary) Morwood Mine Plans (Mining Remediation Authority plan NC372, Little Limestone, abandoned 1 July 1960) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

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