Shincliffe Colliery

Overview

William Bell's colliery at High Shincliffe, south-east of Durham, sunk from 1837 and winning a six-foot Hutton seam in 1839. Later worked with Houghall by Joseph Love and Partners, it closed in 1875 and was abandoned in 1886, leaving a half-empty village.

History

William Bell and Co. began sinking Shincliffe Colliery, east of the turnpike road, on 11 September 1837, putting the shafts down to the Hutton seam, and the first coal came to the surface on 8 November 1839. The winning of the six-foot seam was celebrated at Ford Hall, the home of William Bell, the principal owner. By 1840 the colliery was in full production in the Hutton, 6 feet thick at about 400 feet, a hundred feet below sea level; the sinking record goes down to about 520 feet. It was linked to the Durham and Sunderland Railway, opened in 1839, and later to the Newcastle and Darlington Railway to the south. Its village, Shincliffe Colliery, is now High Shincliffe.

Bell, Backhouse and Davison owned it in the 1850s, and by the mid-1860s it had passed to Joseph Love and Partners, owners of the neighbouring Houghall Colliery, with which it was worked from 1867. A boring that year below the Hutton to beyond the Brockwell gave disappointing results. Some twenty people were killed at the colliery, among them a girl of nine who strayed onto the waggonway and was crushed, and Lawson Lamb, aged nineteen, in September 1871. The colliery closed in 1875 and the Hutton and Low Main were abandoned in 1886. The village emptied: by 1894 Bank Top or High Shincliffe was described as somewhat deserted, and later maps show only a handful of rows left.

Geology

Durham Coal Measures: the Hutton (6 feet at about 400 feet) and the Low Main; a boring of 1867 below the Hutton to beyond the Brockwell was disappointing.

Workings

Shafts to the Hutton (1837-39); a waggonway and links to the Durham and Sunderland and the Newcastle and Darlington railways; worked with Houghall from 1867.

Closure

Closed in 1875; the Hutton and Low Main were abandoned in 1886.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

The colliery village, Shincliffe Colliery, became High Shincliffe, with later council housing and a primary school.

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking began on 11 September 1837, and the first coal was raised on 8 November 1839. ^1,2,3
• By 1840 the colliery was working the Hutton, 6 feet thick at about 400 feet. ³
• By the mid-1860s the colliery belonged to Joseph Love and Partners, who also owned Houghall Colliery, and the two were worked together from 1867. ^1,3
• The colliery closed in 1875 and was abandoned in 1886. ^1,2,4
• About twenty people were killed at the colliery, among them a girl of nine crushed by waggons on the waggonway. ^2,3

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Shincliffe Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Shincliffe Colliery — Shincliffe Local History Society
3. (secondary) High Shincliffe — Wikipedia
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Shincliffe and Houghall, Hutton, abandoned 1886 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

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