Oakenshaw Colliery

Overview

A Straker & Love pit sunk near Brancepeth in 1855 through the Hutton to the Brockwell, its coal run by incline to the Brancepeth coke ovens and its village built by the company around it. It closed in 1892, and coal was taken again briefly in 1991-93.

History

Oakenshaw Colliery stood about five and a half miles south-west of Durham, a mile north-west of Willington. Sinking began in 1855 for Messrs Straker and Love, the shaft being put down from the surface through the Hutton to the Brockwell seam. The Brockwell here was three feet thick at seventy fathoms, and the coal was run out by an incline to the coke ovens at the company's Brancepeth Colliery to the south. The pit was ventilated by a thirty-foot Guibal fan and employed 500 men and boys; the return for 1883 gives 307. The village was the colliery's own. Oakenshaw was purely a colliery village, and the first edition Ordnance Survey of 1860 shows it as four long rows of terraced housing and a school on the west side of the railway incline. Later in the century New Row was built following the line northwards, with two Methodist chapels, an institute and the Colliery Inn. The British School was put up by the colliery owners for 340 children and had an average attendance of 250, and the Oakenshaw Reading Room and Library, kept going by its members' subscriptions, ran to two rooms. The colliery closed in 1892. The school, the chapels and the original southern rows were pulled down, and the cleared southern part of the village was entirely redeveloped from the later twentieth century onwards, with new housing along the main road - the route the railway incline once took - and short sections of the older terracing surviving behind it. Coal was taken from the ground again briefly between 1991 and 1993. Forty-three men and boys are known to have been killed at the pit, among them the brothers Matthew and Thomas Elliott, who died three months apart in 1873. No single incident there killed five or more.

Geology

The shaft was sunk from the surface through the Hutton to the Brockwell seam, which at Oakenshaw was three feet thick and met at seventy fathoms.

Workings

A shaft sunk from the surface through the Hutton to the Brockwell, ventilated by a thirty-foot Guibal fan, employing 500 men and boys. The coal was carried by an incline to the coke ovens at Brancepeth Colliery.

Closure

The colliery closed in 1892, after which the school, the chapels and the original southern rows of the village were demolished. Coal was extracted from the ground again briefly between 1991 and 1993.

What remains

The colliery site, by Stockley Lane at the north of the village, is occupied by the buildings around Belmont House. The southern part of the village was cleared and rebuilt from the later twentieth century, with short sections of the old terracing surviving behind the newer housing.

Short sections of the colliery terracing behind the later housing, and the line of the railway incline, which is now the village's main north-south road.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Brancepeth Colliery — Worked by Straker & Love; Oakenshaw's coal went by incline to the coke ovens at Brancepeth, and the Durham Mining Museum treats it with Brancepeth's B Pit.

Nearby mines

• Brancepeth Colliery — 1.9 km S
• Willington Colliery — 3.2 km S
• Page Bank Colliery — 3.5 km SE
• Roddymoor Colliery — 4.6 km W
• Esh Winning Colliery — 4.8 km N

Straight-line distance, within 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.

• Sinking began in 1855 for Messrs. Straker & Love, the shaft going down through the Hutton to the Brockwell Seam. ¹
• The Brockwell Seam, three feet thick, was reached at a depth of seventy fathoms. ¹
• The coal was carried by incline to the coke ovens at Brancepeth Colliery, and the pit was ventilated by a thirty-foot Guibal fan. ¹
• Employed about 500 men and boys, with 307 returned in 1883. ¹
• Forty-three men and boys are known to have been killed at the pit over its working life. ²
• The workings are recorded in the mine-plans catalogue of the British Geological Survey. ³
• Sinking began in 1855 for Messrs Straker and Love, the shaft being put down from the surface through the Hutton to the Brockwell seam, which at Oakenshaw was three feet thick and met at seventy fathoms. ¹
• The pit was ventilated by a thirty-foot Guibal fan and employed 500 men and boys, its coal being conveyed by an incline line to the coke ovens at Brancepeth Colliery. The return for 1883 gives 307 employed. ¹
• Oakenshaw was purely a colliery village. The 1860 Ordnance Survey shows four long rows of terraced housing and a school west of the railway incline; New Row, two Methodist chapels, an institute and the Colliery Inn followed. The British School was built by the colliery owners for 340 children, with an average attendance of 250, and the Reading Room and Library was supported by its members' subscriptions. ^1,4
• The colliery closed in 1892 and the school, chapels and original southern terraces were demolished; the cleared southern village was redeveloped from the later twentieth century. Coal extraction restarted briefly between 1991 and 1993. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Oakenshaw Colliery (DMM o002) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Oakenshaw, County Durham — Wikipedia
3. (primary) Oakenshaw Colliery abandonment plans (BGS mine-plans catalogue) — British Geological Survey
4. (primary) Oakenshaw Settlement Character Study — Durham County Council

Record created: 23 September 2026 · Last researched: 23 September 2026