New Delaval Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Newsham, Blyth, sunk by the Seaton Delaval Coal Company from 1859 as the Forster Pit, with the Relief Pit added in 1884; idled by Hartley Main Collieries in 1930 and its miners evicted, it was reprieved in 1933 and closed in April 1955.

History

New Delaval Colliery lay at Newsham, on the south side of Blyth, ten miles north-north-east of Newcastle. It grew out of the Seaton Delaval collieries: in 1859 the Seaton Delaval Coal Company carried its waggonway north to a new sinking in the Newsham ward of Blyth, the Forster Pit. Its first shaft went down 737 feet to the Plessey seam, which faults made unworkable there, and an inset was made at 668 feet to the Low Main. The pit did well enough for a third shaft to be sunk by 1870, and a brickworks on the site made the bricks for the colliery buildings and the houses of the new village, called New Delaval.

In 1873 the Newcastle Chronicle's series on colliery villages found two shafts close together, one working the Yard seam and the other the lower seams, with massive engine houses and light iron pit gear. About 350 men and boys were employed, but with only some 200 cottages built many lived at Old Delaval, three or four miles away, and a train ran between the two several times a day. Two large faults between New Delaval and Seaton Delaval cut off a tract of coal, and in 1884 the company sank another shaft, the Relief Pit, rather than drive through them, joined to the Forster Pit by a surface tub line worked by an endless rope.

New headgear and tipplers were put in by 1900. In 1929 the Seaton Delaval company merged with the Cramlington company as Hartley Main Collieries, and in 1930 the New Delaval pits were made idle: the Bensham and Beaumont were abandoned in September and the Stone, Low Main, Yard and Plessey in November, the headgear went to Dudley Colliery, and miners were turned out of their houses, a move seen as pushing them to the group's other pits. Employment fell from 1,002 in 1930 to 188 in 1935. The pits were reprieved in 1933, worked again in the Yard, Stone and Low Main until 1938, and employed about 410 in the 1940s in the Bensham, High Main and Main. New Delaval closed on 2 April 1955.

The museum's list of those killed holds eleven names, among them two boys of fourteen crushed by tubs on the horse-way in December 1884. The first rows of New Delaval have gone, and a golf course now covers their site.

Geology

Northumberland coalfield, heavily faulted: two large faults separate New Delaval from Seaton Delaval. The first shaft reached the Plessey at 737 ft, unworkable there because of faulting, and the Low Main was worked from an inset at 668 ft; the Bensham, Beaumont, Stone, Yard, High Main and Main were worked later.

Workings

The Forster Pit (1859), a third shaft by 1870 and the Relief Pit (1884), linked by a surface tub line hauled by an endless rope.

Closure

Made idle in 1930, when most of its seams were abandoned; reprieved in 1933, with later workings in the Yard, Stone and Low Main abandoned on 30 August 1938, and closed on 2 April 1955.

What remains

The first colliery rows of New Delaval have been demolished; Blyth Golf Club's course covers their site.

Redevelopment

Blyth Golf Club's course was laid out on the site of the first New Delaval rows.

Related mines

• Dudley Colliery — When New Delaval was idled in 1930 its headgear was moved to Dudley Colliery.
• Gloria Colliery, Hartley — The Gloria Pit was sunk in the 1930s to reach coal behind a fault, after the New Delaval pits were idled and reprieved; both belonged to Hartley Main Collieries.
• Seaton Delaval Colliery — New Delaval was sunk by the Seaton Delaval Coal Company and reached by its waggonway; the Seaton Delaval record counts its Forster and Relief shafts among the group's pits.

Recorded claims

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

• The Seaton Delaval Coal Company extended its waggonway to a new sinking at Newsham, the Forster Pit, in 1859. ^1,2
• The first shaft was sunk 737 feet to the Plessey seam, and an inset was made at 668 feet to the Low Main. ¹
• About 350 men and boys were employed in 1873, many of them living at Old Delaval. ¹
• The pits were made idle in 1930; the Bensham and Beaumont were abandoned on 8 September and the Stone, Low Main, Yard and Plessey on 6 November 1930. ^1,3
• The colliery employed 1,002 in 1930 and 188 in 1935. ²
• New Delaval closed on 2 April 1955. ^1,2
• Its plans are catalogued as Delaval New, with the Forster, Joy, Relief, Richard and Amelia pits. ⁴
• A golf course was built on the site of the first New Delaval rows. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) New Delaval Collieries — Blyth Town (blythtown.net)
2. (primary) New Delaval Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) New Delaval Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Delaval New / Forster / Joy / Relief / Richard / Amelia, Main seam — British Geological Survey
5. (observational) Blyth Golf Club (Geograph 6040718) — Geograph (Richard Webb)

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