New Brancepeth Colliery

Overview

A Deerness valley colliery three miles west of Durham, begun by Alexander Brodie Cochrane in 1856, which drew its first coal in 1858, made firebricks and later raised barytes, employed nearly 1,400 in 1910 and closed in July 1953.

History

New Brancepeth Colliery, also called Sleetburn Colliery, worked the royalty of Lord Boyne above the River Deerness, three miles west of Durham, and New Brancepeth grew up as its pit village. Alexander Brodie Cochrane began it in 1856. The Busty seam was proved at fifty fathoms and coal was drawn from it in 1858, though only for two years. A second shaft, the No. 2 Pit, was sunk to the Brockwell in 1865, reaching it at 70 fathoms, and coal was worked from it in 1867. Whellan's directory of 1894 records a third shaft sunk in 1872, when firebrick works were put up; the museum dates the sinking of the No. 3 Pit to the Brockwell from 1 May 1893.

The New Brancepeth Coal Co. worked the colliery from the 1870s, Cochrane & Co. Ltd in the 1890s and the New Brancepeth Colliery Co. Ltd in the 1930s. Its coal went for coking and manufacturing; fireclay was raised from the 1890s and barytes from about 1915. Mindat describes two barytes deposits in the colliery, the eastern worked from 1904 to 1921 and reopened in 1940, the western in production from 1938, and gives 221,659 tons of barium minerals raised up to closure in 1955, only a few per cent of it witherite. In 1910 L. J. Spencer described alstonite, and ullmannite, a mineral then new to Britain, from a barytes and witherite vein at the colliery. Employment rose from 398 in 1883 to about 700 in the 1890s and 1,399 in 1910, and stood at 1,288 in 1921, when the No. 2 and No. 3 pits were at work and the Hutton pit was standing. It fell to 355 by 1935.

The museum's list of those killed at the colliery holds 63 names. In 1909 a hewer was pushed out of a crowded cage as it began to rise, when men took fright at a set of tubs running in to the shaft; in 1923 two men were suffocated while clearing sludge from a disused benzol tank at the colliery's by-product works.

The National Coal Board took the colliery over in 1947. It employed between 400 and 470 men through the late 1940s and produced coking coal and barytes to the end. It closed on 17 July 1953, when its last return gives 170 men; the abandonment plans for its Brockwell, Harvey, Victoria and Busty workings are dated 1952 and 1953. Co-Curate gives the closing year as 1963.

Geology

Durham coalfield: the Busty, proved at 50 fathoms, and the Brockwell at 70 fathoms, with the Harvey, Hutton, Victoria, Ballarat (Top Busty) and Band seams worked in the twentieth century; fireclay and barytes were raised alongside the coal.

Workings

No. 1 Pit (Busty, first coal 1858); No. 2 Pit, sunk 1865 to the Brockwell; No. 3 Pit, sunk from 1 May 1893 to the Brockwell; a Hutton pit; firebrick works and a by-product works.

Closure

Closed on 17 July 1953 under the National Coal Board.

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.

• A third shaft was sunk in 1872, when firebrick works were erected. (uncertain) ¹
• Worked until 1963. (disputed) ⁴
• The eastern barytes deposit was worked from 1904 to 1921 and reopened in 1940; the western came into production in 1938. (disputed) ⁶

Recorded claims

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

• Begun by Alexander Brodie Cochrane in 1856; coal first drawn from the Busty in 1858. ¹
• No. 2 Pit was sunk in 1865 to the Brockwell, reached at 70 fathoms. ^1,2
• A third shaft was sunk in 1872, when firebrick works were erected. (uncertain) ¹
• The No. 3 Pit was sunk from 1 May 1893 to the Brockwell. ¹
• Barytes was raised alongside coking coal from about 1915 to 1953. ^1,3
• The colliery employed 1,399 people in 1910. ¹
• Also known as Sleetburn Colliery; New Brancepeth was its pit village. ^1,4,5
• Closed on 17 July 1953. ^1,3
• Worked until 1963. (disputed) ⁴
• The eastern barytes deposit was worked from 1904 to 1921 and reopened in 1940; the western came into production in 1938. (disputed) ⁶
• Barium mineral production up to closure in 1955 was 221,659 tons, only a few per cent of it witherite. ⁶
• A barytes and witherite vein at the colliery yielded alstonite and ullmannite, described by L. J. Spencer in 1910 as a species new to Britain. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: New Brancepeth Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: New Brancepeth Colliery shaft details — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan: Brancepeth New, Brockwell seam, abandoned 1953 — British Geological Survey
4. (secondary) Co-Curate: New Brancepeth — Newcastle University (Co-Curate)
5. (secondary) Wikipedia: New Brancepeth — Wikipedia
6. (secondary) New Brancepeth Colliery (Sleetburn Colliery), Deerness Valley (mindat) — mindat.org

Record created: 6 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026