Radcliffe Colliery

Overview

A colliery near Amble sunk from 1836 or 1837 by a partnership working the Earl of Newburgh's royalty and named for his family; it raised coal and fireclay, gave rise to a village of some 700 people, and gave out in the 1890s.

History

Radcliffe Colliery, in Hauxley township about 8½ miles south-south-east of Alnwick, began as a partnership between Robert Kingscote and Thomas Browne to work coal in the Hauxley and Amble townships from the royalty of the Countess of Newburgh. It was named for her late husband, the fifth Earl, Anthony James Radclyffe. Shaft sinking began in January 1837 under John Easton on land owned by Middleton Henry Dand of Hauxley, although the Durham Mining Museum dates the sinking to 1836 and first coal to September 1837. About 17 February 1838 the shaft cut a coal seam of four to five feet at 57 fathoms. In March 1839 the partnership was widened to take in investors including Sir John Rennie and the Earl of Newburgh, tenders went out that August for thirty cottages, and by August 1840 the shaft stood at 69 fathoms.

Coal went to Amble by railway, on which a locomotive replaced horses in May 1855. When the lease was advertised in 1854 the royalty covered 2,200 acres and the pit was working at 25,000 chaldrons a year, with capacity for twice that. By 1855 the owners were Harrison and Carr of Newcastle, trading as the Derwentwater Coal Company; after John Harrison's death the lease was offered at auction in December 1867 with a royalty of 2,600 acres. The Radcliffe Coal Company, coal-owners and firebrick makers, went into voluntary liquidation in June 1881 and a new Radcliffe Coal Company Limited, with £20,000 of capital, was formed in February 1882. The Durham Mining Museum records coal and fireclay from 1882 to 1890.

The Durham Mining Museum records closure on 10 August 1896, with 209 people on the books in 1894, and notes the Albert, Queen, Princess, Duke, Little Wonder and Radcliffe seams abandoned that year as exhausted. Other accounts date the end to 1892, when a fault in the seam, then fire and flooding, made coal extraction uneconomical. New shafts were sunk about a mile away at Newburgh, the Newbrough Pit, and in November 1900 the Radcliffe and Broomhill companies were merged as Broomhill Collieries Limited.

The colliery-owned village, once known as Radcliffe Terrace, Hauxley, had a chapel and Sunday school from 1843 that also served as a day school. Smallpox infected about 200 villagers in 1864 and killed 20. The west end of the village was put under a clearance order in 1937, part of the original terrace was demolished in 1950, and the remaining colliery-owned houses were demolished in 1971 to make way for opencast working, their occupants being rehoused in Amble.

Geology

The Albert, Queen, Princess, Duke, Little Wonder and Radcliffe seams were worked, and fireclay was raised as well as coal. The first shaft cut a coal seam of four to five feet at 57 fathoms in 1838.

Workings

The Durham Mining Museum lists the First Pit, the Newbrough Pit and the North Engine Pit. A railway carried the coal to the staiths at Amble.

Closure

The Durham Mining Museum gives closure on 10 August 1896 with the Albert, Queen, Princess, Duke, Little Wonder and Radcliffe seams abandoned as exhausted. Other accounts say the colliery closed in 1892 after a fault in the seam, then fire and flooding.

What remains

The village was demolished in 1971 and the ground opencast. Most of the land has returned to farming, and part of it is now Hauxley Nature Reserve.

Redevelopment

Opencast coal working followed the demolition of the village in 1971.

Related mines

• Hauxley Colliery — Radcliffe's workings passed to Broomhill Collieries in 1900; Hauxley was sunk by the same company and worked the same Radcliffe, Duke, Princess and Queen seams.
• Newburgh Colliery — The Newbrough Pit was sunk by the Radcliffe Coal Company about a mile from Radcliffe Colliery, which had begun to fail.
• Togston Colliery — A railway connected Togston Colliery with the Radcliffe Colliery line, and the two appear on the same abandonment plans.

Culture

• Radcliffe War Memorial (Art)
  Radcliffe was the village of Radcliffe Colliery; the memorial stood there until the village was demolished for opencast coal in 1971.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The Durham Mining Museum gives 1836 for the start of sinking and September 1837 for first coal. (disputed) ²
• The Durham Mining Museum records the colliery as closing on 10 August 1896, with the main seams abandoned as exhausted. (disputed) ²
• The colliery closed in 1892 after a fault in the seam, then fire and flooding, made coal extraction uneconomical. (disputed) ^3,4

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery was begun by Robert Kingscote and Thomas Browne and named for Anthony James Radclyffe, fifth Earl of Newburgh. ¹
• Shaft sinking began in January 1837 and the shaft cut a coal seam of four to five feet at 57 fathoms about 17 February 1838. ¹
• The Durham Mining Museum gives 1836 for the start of sinking and September 1837 for first coal. (disputed) ²
• The Durham Mining Museum records the colliery as closing on 10 August 1896, with the main seams abandoned as exhausted. (disputed) ²
• The colliery closed in 1892 after a fault in the seam, then fire and flooding, made coal extraction uneconomical. (disputed) ^3,4
• By 1855 the colliery was owned by Harrison and Carr of Newcastle, trading as the Derwentwater Coal Company. ^2,1
• In 1894 the colliery had 209 people on its books, 149 below ground and 60 on the surface. ²
• The colliery-owned houses of Radcliffe village were demolished in 1971 to make way for opencast working. ^3,4
• The British Geological Survey catalogues abandonment plans covering the Broomhill, Chevington East, Coldrife, Togston and Radcliffe workings. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) The Rise and Fall of Radcliffe (timeline) — Amble and District Local History (fusilier.co.uk)
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Radcliffe Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Radcliffe, Northumberland (Wikipedia) — Wikipedia
4. (secondary) Coal Mining - Bailiffgate Collections — Bailiffgate Museum & Gallery
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: BROOMHILL CHEVINGTON EAST/COLDRIFE/TOGSTON/TOGSTON EAST/DAWSON'S/RADCLIFFE — British Geological Survey

Record created: 29 September 2026 · Last researched: 29 September 2026