Newbiggin Colliery

Location	Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Northumberland — 55.1903, -1.5138 (exact)
Commodity	Coal
Type	Coal
Worked	1908–11 November 1967
Maximum depth	Unknown.
Operators	Newbiggin Collieries Ltd (1908–?), Netherton Colliery Co. Ltd (?–1947), National Coal Board (1947–1967)

Overview

The colliery of the fishing and resort town of Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, sunk in 1908, which employed 1,400 men at its 1940 peak raising 470,000 tons, and closed in November 1967.

History

Newbiggin Colliery lay at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea on the Northumberland coast, sixteen miles north-north-east of Newcastle, in a town that had lived by fishing and as a seaside resort. Newbiggin Collieries Ltd sank it in 1908; in 1910 it was still sinking, with 210 men, most of them on the surface. By 1914 it employed 1,023 men and boys, and by 1915 it was working the Main and Yard seams for household and steam coal; and it grew to 1,291 in 1921 and 1,401 in 1925, adding the Low Main, Bensham, New Main, Plessey and Five Quarter. Two sinkers were killed by a fall of stone in April 1922.

The Bensham was abandoned in 1932, the Low Main and Five Quarter in 1933, and the Low Main again in 1938. The colliery reached its peak in 1940, with 1,400 men raising 470,000 tons, under the Netherton Colliery Company in the 1940s. The National Coal Board took it over in 1947, when 1,150 men raised 268,000 tons. The Plessey was discontinued in 1950, the workforce fell to 663 in 1955 and 390 in 1960, and from 1960 only the Main seam was worked. The colliery closed on 11 November 1967. Its band became the Jayess Newbiggin Brass Band.

Geology

Northumberland coalfield, on the coast: the Main, Yard, Low Main, Bensham, New Main, Plessey and Five Quarter seams, with the Bottom Plessey and the Plessey or Hutton in the last years.

Workings

Shafts sunk from 1908 at Newbiggin-by-the-Sea.

Closure

Reduced to the Main seam from 1960; the colliery closed on 11 November 1967.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Nearby mines

Lynemouth Colliery — 1.3 miles (2.1 km) NW
Woodhorn Colliery — 1.3 miles (2.1 km) W
Cambois Colliery — 2.6 miles (4.1 km) S
Ellington Colliery — 2.6 miles (4.2 km) NW
West Sleekburn Colliery — 3.0 miles (4.8 km) SW

Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (15 km). Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

Newbiggin Colliery was sunk in 1908 and closed in 1967. ^1,2,3
In 1914 the colliery employed 1,023 men and boys; by 1960 it employed 390. ^1,3
At its peak in 1940 the colliery employed 1,400 men. ^1,2
In 1940 it raised 470,000 tons of household and steam coal. ¹
The Bensham was abandoned on 27 July 1932 and the Low Main and Five Quarter on 1 August 1933. ⁴
The colliery closed on 11 November 1967. ¹
The Plessey or Hutton workings were abandoned on 26 May 1967. ⁵
The former Newbiggin Colliery Band is now the Jayess Newbiggin Brass Band. ²

Photographs & further reading

Newbiggin Colliery, c. 1920 (Northumberland Communities) (reference)

Northumberland Archives' photograph of the colliery about 1920, with a short note on its working life.

View source

Sources

(primary) Newbiggin Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
(secondary) Newbiggin-by-the-Sea (Wikipedia) — Wikipedia
(secondary) Newbiggin-by-the-Sea: Photographs, Newbiggin Colliery (c. 1920) (Northumberland Communities) — Northumberland Archives Service
(primary) Newbiggin Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
(primary) BGS mine plan: Newbiggin, Plessey or Hutton 'L' seam, 1967 — British Geological Survey

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