Nelson Colliery

Overview

A Cramlington colliery opened by Hartley Main Collieries Ltd in 1934, working the Five Quarter, Low Main and Plessey seams with up to nearly 500 people until it closed in January 1958.

History

Nelson Colliery was a Cramlington pit of the 1930s to 1950s, about nine miles north of Newcastle. Hartley Main Collieries Ltd opened it in 1934; the Northern Mine Research Society's list of nationalised pits gives January 1935. It worked household and steam coal from the Five Quarter, Low Main and Plessey seams, employing 210 in 1935, with J. S. Tweddell as agent and J. B. Templeton as manager.

Employment more than doubled to 456 by 1940. The Bedlington Mains Coal Company held it from 1943, and the National Coal Board from 1947. It employed 485 in 1950, when the Low Main was abandoned in June, leaving the Five Quarter and Plessey. Numbers fell to 247 by 1955, under the manager G. Simpson. Nine deaths are recorded at the colliery.

Nelson closed on 4 January 1958.

Geology

The Five Quarter, Low Main and Plessey seams of the Northumberland coalfield.

Workings

Worked the Five Quarter, Low Main and Plessey; the Low Main was given up in June 1950.

Closure

The Low Main was abandoned in June 1950 and the colliery closed on 4 January 1958.

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.

• In production from January 1935. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Opened in 1934 by Hartley Main Collieries Ltd. ¹
• In production from January 1935. (uncertain) ²
• Employed 456 people in 1940 and 485 in 1950. ¹
• The Low Main seam was abandoned in June 1950. ^1,3
• J. B. Templeton was manager in 1935 and G. Simpson in 1955-57. ⁴
• Closed in January 1958. ^2,1

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Nelson Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Catalogue of Plans of Abandoned Mines: Nelson Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) Nelson Colliery: Colliery Management (prior to 1970) — Durham Mining Museum

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