South Hetton Colliery

Overview

Colonel Braddyll's colliery in east Durham, sunk from 1831 through water-bearing sands beneath the Permian rocks and opened with a roasted bullock on 5 August 1833; said to be the first in Durham to draw coal in cages, it employed more than 1,400 in 1930 and closed in July 1982.

History

South Hetton Colliery was begun on 1 March 1831 by the South Hetton Coal Company, the partnership of Colonel Thomas Braddyll. The sinkers met heavy feeders of water and quicksand in the Yellow Sand below the Permian rocks, and one of the largest steam engines yet built, rated at 240 horsepower, began pumping from 876 feet on 19 February 1833. The Hutton, or Wallsend, seam was won in June 1833 at 180 fathoms, six feet four inches high. The colliery opened on Monday 5 August 1833: a bullock was roasted for the neighbourhood, and a crowd gathered at Seaham to watch the first coals shipped. From 23 November 1835 coal was also shipped at Hartlepool, when the railway opened to South Hetton and Thornley.

The Five Quarter lay at 100 fathoms, the Main Coal at 140, the Low Main at 168 and the Hutton at 180; the Hutton gave household and gas coal sold as South Hetton Wallsend. There was only one pit, divided into two coal-drawing shafts and an upcast. Corves at first drew the coal, and the colliery was said to be the first in Durham to use cages instead. In 1894 it raised 1,800 tons a day with 1,000 men and boys. The village had about 500 houses, almost all miners', and the owners built schools in 1840 that held 560 children. The South Hetton Co. of Forster, Walker, Burrell, Green and partners held it from the 1850s.

Employment peaked at 1,443 in 1930, stayed above 1,000 through the 1950s under the National Coal Board, and fell to 348 by 1980. The colliery closed in July 1982. The museum's list of those killed holds 151 names: three died in an explosion on 29 April 1843, two trappers of ten and eleven were run over by waggons on 12 March 1845, two men died in an explosion of firedamp on 29 January 1869, and two deputies were killed by a fall of stone on 8 January 1898 (see Disasters, below).

Geology

Durham coalfield beneath the Permian: the sinking passed the Permian rocks and the water-bearing Yellow Sand to the Five Quarter (100 fathoms), Main Coal (140), Low Main (168) and Hutton (180), and on to the Busty; the Main Coal is disturbed to the north of the pit by the 'Wash', a channel of sandstone and boulders.

Workings

One pit divided into two coal-drawing shafts and an upcast; the Engine Pit, begun 1 March 1831.

Closure

Closed in July 1982 under the National Coal Board.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• South Hetton Colliery explosion, 1869
  29 January 1869 · Explosion · 2 fatalities
  A deputy overman and a hewer were killed at South Hetton Colliery on 29 January 1869 when a blown-out shot fired gas that had gathered behind the face of a place the deputy had been told not to let be worked.
• South Hetton Colliery roof fall, 1898
  8 January 1898 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 2 fatalities
  Two deputies, Robert Carr and Alexander Short, were killed at South Hetton Colliery on 8 January 1898 when a stone 20 feet long fell on them from a hidden slip in the roof as they drew timber from a jud in the Low Main seam.

What's uncertain

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

• South Hetton was said to be the first colliery in Durham to draw coal in cages. (uncertain) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• The South Hetton Coal Co., owned by Colonel Thomas Braddyll, first sank shafts in 1831. ^1,2,3
• The colliery opened on 5 August 1833, when the first coals were shipped at Seaham. ¹
• South Hetton was said to be the first colliery in Durham to draw coal in cages. (uncertain) ¹
• Employment peaked in the 1930s at more than 1,400. ^1,2,3
• Closed in July 1982. ^1,2
• The Engine Pit section reaches the Busty seam at about 1,262 ft. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: South Hetton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Co-Curate: South Hetton, County Durham — Newcastle University (Co-Curate)
3. (secondary) Wikipedia: South Hetton — Wikipedia
4. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: South Hetton Colliery Engine Pit shaft details — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 6 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026