North Fenham Colliery

Overview

A small landsale colliery at North Fenham, north-west of Newcastle, sunk in 1865 with two timbered shafts; its Low Main seam was exhausted by 1892 and it was disused by the 1910s.

History

North Fenham Colliery lay at North Fenham, two and a half miles north-west of Newcastle. It was sunk in 1865, when sinkers were advertised for in February for a shaft of seven feet, and it was at work by 1867. The royalty of 100 acres was held under an agreement for a 31-year lease from 1 January 1862. It had no railway: its coal was landsale, sold locally or carted to the Tyne, and it also raised fireclay. In the 1880s it belonged to Bambridge and White. A hewer, Joseph Fitzpatrick, was killed by a shot in 1873.

By 1889 the Low Main seam was nearly exhausted. The colliery was offered for sale that year, near the turnpike road to Newcastle, with 'two well timbered shafts, together with the plant and machinery' able to raise 150 tons of coal a day, and the hope of working the Beaumont seam for about £1,000. A boring from the Low Main in July 1889 found the Beaumont at 597 feet below the surface. The Low Main was abandoned in 1892 as exhausted, and the site, a triangular plot with a few dwellings and small pit buildings in the 1890s, was disused by the 1910s.

Geology

The shaft reached the Low Main seam at 372 feet; a boring from it in 1889 passed through shale (metal), sandstone (post) and a thin whin to the Beaumont seam, 5 feet 2 inches thick, at 597 feet 9 inches. The colliery also raised fireclay.

Workings

Two timbered shafts with plant able to raise 150 tons a day; no rail connection.

Closure

The Low Main seam was abandoned in 1892 as exhausted; the site was disused by the 1910s.

What remains

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• North Fenham Colliery was sunk in 1865 and was at work by 1867. ¹
• North Fenham Colliery belonged to Bambridge and White in the 1880s and raised landsale coal and fireclay. ²
• In 1889 North Fenham was offered for sale with two well-timbered shafts and plant able to raise 150 tons of coal a day, on a royalty of 100 acres leased from 1862. ¹
• A boring from the Low Main at North Fenham in July 1889 reached the Beaumont seam at 597 feet 9 inches below the surface. ³
• The Low Main seam at North Fenham was abandoned in 1892, the coal exhausted. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) North Fenham Colliery — North East Heritage Library (Coals Archive)
2. (primary) North Fenham Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) North Fenham Colliery: strata bored from the Low Main, 8 July 1889 — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 22 October 2026 · Last researched: 22 October 2026