Prestwick Colliery

Also known as	Lizzie Ann Pit
Location	Prestwick, near Ponteland, Northumberland — 55.0363, -1.7113 (approximate)
Commodity	Coal
Type	Coal
Worked	1771–1966
Maximum depth	About 214 feet (Lizzie Ann Pit, to the Brockwell)
Operators	Jonathan Thompson (1771–?), East Walbottle Coal Co. Ltd (?–1947), National Coal Board (1947–1966), Turner & Young, Callerton Collieries Ltd

Overview

A small colliery at Prestwick near Ponteland, worked by Jonathan Thompson from 1771 and through a series of owners after. Its Lizzie Ann Pit worked the Brockwell; merged with East Walbottle in 1964, it closed in October 1966.

History

Coal was being worked at Prestwick, near Ponteland, by Jonathan Thompson in 1771, and plans survive of unnamed seams worked there in 1786 and 1806. A working was abandoned in 1858. Turner and Young held the colliery from the 1860s; in June 1903 the Brockwell and a seam fifteen fathoms above it were abandoned through exhaustion of the coal and the collapse of the roads. Its Lizzie Ann Pit was sunk to the Brockwell, 4 feet 9 inches thick, at about 209 feet, from a surface some 220 feet above sea level.

It was a very small pit for most of its life, with 17 men in 1894 and 44 in 1910, owned by Callerton Collieries Ltd from the 1910s. Plans for the Brockwell were abandoned in May 1934, the Main in February 1935 and the Beaumont or Engine seam in November 1937. The workforce grew from 57 in 1925 to 109 in 1935, and under the East Walbottle Coal Company in the 1940s and the National Coal Board from 1947 it reached 176 by 1955, working the Brockwell and Busty. In 1964 it was merged with East Walbottle, and it closed in October 1966.

Geology

Northumberland Coal Measures: the Brockwell (4 feet 9 inches), Two Feet, Four Feet, Main, Beaumont or Engine seam and Busty.

Workings

The Lizzie Ann Pit to the Brockwell.

Closure

Merged with East Walbottle in 1964; closed in October 1966.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

East Walbottle Colliery — Neighbouring collieries under the East Walbottle Coal Company, merged in 1964 and closed together in 1966.

Nearby mines

East Walbottle Colliery — 1.7 miles (2.7 km) NE, Tyne and Wear
North Walbottle Colliery — 2.0 miles (3.2 km) S, Tyne and Wear
Coronation Pit, Walbottle — 2.3 miles (3.7 km) S, Tyne and Wear
Hazlerigg Colliery — 2.6 miles (4.2 km) E, Tyne and Wear
Blucher Colliery — 3.1 miles (5.0 km) S, Tyne and Wear

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.

Prestwick Colliery was worked from 1771, by Jonathan Thompson. ^1,2,3
In June 1903 the Brockwell and a seam above it were abandoned through exhaustion of coal and collapse of roads. ^3,4
Prestwick was merged with East Walbottle in 1964. ^1,2
Prestwick Colliery closed in October 1966. ³

Photographs & further reading

Prestwick Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) (reference)

Owners, employment, seams and abandonments.

View source

Ashington Area collieries (NMRS) (reference)

The Northumberland NCB pits with their opening and closing dates.

View source

Sources

(secondary) Ashington Area: collieries after nationalisation — Northern Mine Research Society
(secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
(primary) Prestwick Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
(primary) BGS mine plan: Prestwick/Bell/Henry/Parcel/Phillis/Sarah, abandoned 1903 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026