Silksworth Colliery

Overview

A colliery opened by Lord Londonderry two and a half miles south-south-west of Sunderland, its North Pit begun on 16 August 1869 and sunk to the Hutton seam by January 1873. Around it the Londonderrys built New Silksworth, a colliery village with better housing than the older ones nearby, a school for 850 children built by the Marquis in 1875, and a miners’ hall of 1893 seating 900. In 1894 it employed 2,000 men raising up to 2,500 tons a day, shipped at Sunderland Docks. In February 1891 the company served about 150 eviction warrants on strikers’ families. It closed on 6 November 1971.

History

Boring was in progress at Silksworth by 1867 and the North Pit began sinking on 16 August 1869, reaching the Hutton seam and finishing on 13 January 1873. The colliery was opened by Lord Londonderry and stayed in the family’s companies for decades: Londonderry Collieries Ltd in the 1900s, then Lambton & Hetton Collieries Ltd, then from 1934 Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries Ltd, and from 1947 the National Coal Board. What went up around the pit was as deliberate as the pit itself. New Silksworth became a populous colliery village with shops, schools and chapels and housing better than the older colliery villages of the district, with a few houses near the colliery for its officials. The Marquis of Londonderry built a colliery school in 1875 for 290 boys, 290 girls and 270 infants, with houses for the master and mistress. Work began in April 1893 on a miners’ hall in Blind Lane — a spacious brick building with stone facings in an Italian style, its lecture hall with gallery and stage seating 900, well lit and tastefully decorated, with billiard, reading and recreation rooms, at a cost of £3,300. There was no railway connection for passengers; residents took brakes and buses into Sunderland. In 1894 the colliery employed 2,000 people and produced up to 2,500 tons of coal a day, shipped at Sunderland Docks. The village is best remembered for what happened on 19 February 1891, when men came into its streets to evict residents during a dispute between the miners, their employers and the union, and crowds watched families’ belongings put out on the pavement. About 150 eviction warrants were issued. By March the two sides had reached agreement, work went on at the colliery and the miners returned to their homes.

Geology

Coal Measures of the East Durham concealed coalfield, beneath the Magnesian Limestone that made the coast-field sinkings of the nineteenth century so difficult and so expensive. The North Pit was carried down to the Hutton seam, one of the principal Durham seams.

Workings

The North Pit at NZ 376 540, sunk from 16 August 1869 and completed to the Hutton seam on 13 January 1873. Coal went to Sunderland Docks for shipment; the village itself had no passenger railway, and people travelled to Sunderland by brake and bus.

Closure

Silksworth Colliery closed on 6 November 1971, a little over a century after its sinking began.

What remains

The colliery is gone. Its spoil heap has been landscaped into the Silksworth sports complex, and the line of the colliery railway survives as a path through the modern housing that has grown over the site.

None of the colliery buildings; the colliery railway’s course survives as a path.

Nearby mines

• Herrington Colliery — 3.6 km W
• Westoe Colliery — 4.0 km N, County Durham
• Wearmouth Colliery — 4.9 km N
• Hylton Colliery — 5.0 km N
• Seaham Colliery — 5.1 km SE, County Durham

Straight-line distance, within 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.

• Boring was in progress by 1867 and the North Pit commenced sinking on 16 August 1869, reaching the Hutton seam and finishing sinking operations on 13 January 1873. ¹
• The colliery was opened by Lord Londonderry and passed successively to Londonderry Collieries Ltd, Lambton & Hetton Collieries Ltd, Lambton, Hetton & Joicey Collieries Ltd from 1934, and the National Coal Board from 1947. ^1,2
• In 1894 there were 2,000 workers at the colliery producing up to 2,500 tons of coal a day, which was shipped at Sunderland Docks. ²
• New Silksworth became a populous colliery village with shops, schools and chapels and housing superior to the older colliery villages; the Marquis of Londonderry built a colliery school in 1875 for 290 boys, 290 girls and 270 infants, and a miners’ hall was begun in Blind Lane in April 1893 — an Italianate brick building with a lecture hall seating 900, billiard, reading and recreation rooms, costing £3,300. ²
• On 19 February 1891 men entered the streets of Silksworth to evict residents during a dispute between the workers, their employers and the union, with crowds watching belongings put out on the pavement; about 150 eviction warrants were served, and by March an agreement had been reached and the miners returned to their homes. ²
• The colliery opened in 1869 and closed on 6 November 1971. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Silksworth Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Silksworth Colliery (HER 6995) — Tyne and Wear Historic Environment Record

Record created: 7 September 2026 · Last researched: 7 September 2026