Ramshaw Colliery

Overview

A small south-west Durham colliery at Etherley, near West Auckland, worked from 1928 for household coal and later by the Ramshaw Coal Company in two and then three pits. It employed over two hundred under the National Coal Board before closing in October 1959.

History

Ramshaw Colliery lay at Etherley, near West Auckland, in the south-west of the Durham coalfield; the NMRS dates it from 1928. In 1929 it employed 43, raising household coal from the Brockwell seam with W. Summerson as agent and M. V. Summerson as manager. A No. 1 pit appears in the returns by 1935 and a No. 2 from 1935, and by 1940 the two employed 116; the Ramshaw Coal Company Ltd owned the colliery from 1942, and by 1945 192 men were at work, raising coking, household and steam coal.

The National Coal Board took it over in 1947. In 1950 it was working three pits in the Brockwell, Busty, Harvey and Hutton seams with 236 men, but No. 2 lasted only until that year, its Busty abandoned in 1950 and its Brockwell in 1951. The Busty at No. 1 was given up in 1958, and the colliery, down to 98 men, closed in October 1959; its Harvey and Hutton plans are dated 1959.

Geology

Durham coalfield: the Brockwell, Busty, Harvey and Hutton seams.

Workings

Nos. 1, 2 and 3 pits; No. 2 worked from 1935 to 1950.

Closure

Closed in October 1959; the Harvey and Hutton plans are dated 1959. Ramshaw No. 2 closed in 1950.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Etherley Dene Colliery — Neighbouring small collieries west of Bishop Auckland, closed in the 1950s; both listed together by the NMRS and on the same railways.

Recorded claims

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

• Ramshaw, Etherley, worked from 1928 to October 1959, and Ramshaw No. 2 from 1935 to 1950. ^1,2
• In 1929 Ramshaw employed 43 working household coal from the Brockwell seam, with W. Summerson as agent and M. V. Summerson as manager. ^3,4
• The colliery employed 116 in two pits in 1940, 192 in 1945 and 236 in 1950, when three pits worked the Brockwell, Busty, Harvey and Hutton seams. ³
• The Ramshaw Coal Co. Ltd owned the colliery from 1942 until the National Coal Board took over in 1947. ³
• Ramshaw employed 98 in 1959 and closed in October that year; its Harvey workings were abandoned in 1959 and No. 2's Busty in 1950. ^3,5,6

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Bishop Auckland Area — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Ramshaw Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) Ramshaw Colliery: colliery management (prior to 1970) — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Ramshaw, Harvey 'N', abandoned 1959 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans
6. (primary) BGS mine plan: Ramshaw No. 2, Busty, abandoned 1950 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

Record created: 5 October 2026 · Last researched: 5 October 2026