MineArchivePrinces Street Drift
| Also known as | Princes Street Colliery |
|---|---|
| Location | Shildon, south-east of Bishop Auckland, County Durham — 54.6318, -1.6584 (approximate) |
| Commodity | Coal |
| Type | Coal |
| Worked | 1939–November 1958 |
| Maximum depth | Unknown. |
| Operators | Princes Street Colliery (Shildon) Ltd (1939–1947), National Coal Board (1947–1958) |
Overview
A small drift colliery at Shildon, County Durham, opened in 1939 by Princes Street Colliery (Shildon) Ltd and worked in two drifts. Under the National Coal Board it reached about a hundred men in 1950 and closed in November 1958.
History
Princes Street Drift was opened at Shildon, south-east of Bishop Auckland, in 1939 by Princes Street Colliery (Shildon) Ltd, and in its first year employed 27 working the Five Quarter and Main seams for coking, gas and household coal. Those first workings were abandoned in 1944. By 1945 there were two drifts, No. 1 with three men and No. 2 with 46.
The National Coal Board took it over in 1947 and in 1950 it employed 101, No. 1 working the Five Quarter and Three Quarter and No. 2 the Low Main. No. 2's Hutton workings had been abandoned in 1949, and No. 1's Three Quarter and Five Quarter followed in 1953. From 1955 only No. 1 worked, in the Low Main, with 36 to 59 men, raising household and steam coal, until the drift closed in November 1958; a plan of its Brass Thill workings is dated 1959.
Geology
Durham coalfield: the Main, Five Quarter, Three Quarter, Low Main, Hutton and Brass Thill seams.
Workings
Two drifts (Nos. 1 and 2) from the mid-1940s; No. 1 alone from 1955.
Closure
Closed in November 1958 (DMM: 1958); a Brass Thill plan is dated 1959.
What remains
Unknown.
Redevelopment
Unknown.
Nearby mines
- Brusselton Colliery — 1.2 miles (2.0 km) SW
- Auckland Park Colliery — 1.4 miles (2.3 km) N
- Eldon Colliery — 1.5 miles (2.5 km) NE
- Woodhouse Close Colliery — 1.7 miles (2.7 km) NW
- Middridge Colliery — 1.8 miles (2.8 km) E
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.
- Princes Street Drift was opened in 1939 by Princes Street Colliery (Shildon) Ltd and employed 27 in 1940 in the Five Quarter and Main seams. 1
- Princes Street, Shildon, worked from 1939 to November 1958. 2,3
- In 1950 the drift employed 101, No. 1 working the Five Quarter and Three Quarter and No. 2 the Low Main; from 1955 No. 1 alone worked the Low Main with 36 to 59 men. 1
- The Princes Street Main workings were abandoned in 1944 and its Brass Thill workings in 1959. 4,5
Photographs & further reading
Owners, employment by drift and seams, 1939-1958.
View sourceSources
- (primary) Princes Street Drift — Durham Mining Museum
- (secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
- (secondary) Bishop Auckland Area — Northern Mine Research Society
- (primary) BGS mine plan: Princes Street, Main, abandoned 1944 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans
- (primary) BGS mine plan: Princes Street, Brass Thill 'K', abandoned 1959 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans
Record created: 5 October 2026 · Last researched: 5 October 2026