Herrington Colliery

Overview

A County Durham colliery at New Herrington south-west of Sunderland, opened in 1874 on the Earl of Durham's estate and worked through the Lambton companies until nationalisation. It raised gas, household, manufacturing and steam coal for over a century and closed in December 1985. No disaster of five or more deaths is recorded there.

History

The colliery opened in 1874, the sinking of its No. 2 pit beginning that year. It was the Earl of Durham's in the 1880s — the Lambton family, whose Durham coal interests were among the largest in the county — and passed to Lambton Collieries Ltd in 1896, to Lambton & Hetton Collieries Ltd in the 1910s after the merger with the Hetton interests, and to Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries Ltd in the 1940s. The National Coal Board took it over in 1947. The output returns are unusually broad for a Durham pit: gas, household, manufacturing and steam coal together from 1894 through to 1910, with fireclay appearing in 1915, and gas, household and steam coal into the 1930s. The colliery closed in December 1985. The pit is often called Philadelphia Colliery after the neighbouring settlement, which gave its name to the Lambton Railway's locomotive works.

Geology

The colliery worked the Coal Measures of the East Durham coalfield, beneath the Magnesian Limestone that covers the productive measures across this part of the county. The breadth of the output returns — gas, household, manufacturing and steam coal from the same colliery in the same year — reflects a pit working several seams of different quality rather than one dominant bed.

Workings

Two shafts are recorded, the No. 2 pit sunk from 1874. The returns from 1894 to 1910 give gas, household, manufacturing and steam coal together, with fireclay added in 1915 and gas, household and steam coal returned into the 1930s.

Closure

Closed in December 1985, under the National Coal Board.

What remains

The colliery site has been cleared and reclaimed; no account of surviving structures has been found.

Not established.

Nearby mines

• Chartershaugh Colliery — 3.2 km W, County Durham
• Westoe Colliery — 4.6 km NE, County Durham
• Harraton Colliery — 5.0 km W
• Eppleton Colliery — 5.4 km SE
• Hylton Colliery — 5.6 km NE

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.

• The colliery opened in 1874, the No. 2 pit being sunk that year. (high) ¹
• The colliery was the Earl of Durham's in the 1880s, passed to Lambton Collieries Ltd in 1896, to Lambton & Hetton Collieries Ltd in the 1910s and to Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries Ltd in the 1940s, before nationalisation in 1947. (high) ¹
• From 1894 to 1910 the colliery returned gas, household, manufacturing and steam coal together; fireclay appears in the 1915 return, and gas, household and steam coal into the 1930s. (high) ¹
• The Durham Mining Museum records no disaster of five or more killed at this colliery, though it lists 166 named fatalities across its working life. (high) ¹
• The colliery closed in December 1985. (high) ¹
• The colliery is often called Philadelphia Colliery after the neighbouring settlement of Philadelphia, which gave its name to the Lambton Railway's locomotive works serving the Lambton collieries. (medium) ^2,1

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum: Herrington Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Washington, Tyne and Wear — Wikipedia

Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 3 September 2026