South Shildon Colliery

Overview

A small colliery at Shildon opened by the South Shildon Coal Company in 1929 to work the Busty seam, which grew to about a hundred men under the National Coal Board and closed in August 1958.

History

South Shildon Colliery lay at Shildon, in Middridge Grange, eleven miles south-south-west of Durham. The South Shildon Coal Company opened it in 1929 with 22 men working the Bottom Busty seam for coking, household and steam coal. It stayed small through the 1930s, with 33 men in 1930 and 1935, and in 1940 it had 43, working the Harvey as well. The Record Office's National Coal Board list records a closure between 1938 and 1942 and asks whether it reopened after it; the Durham Mining Museum's returns run on without a break, with 39 men in 1945.

The National Coal Board took the colliery over in 1947 and enlarged it: in 1950 it employed 100, working the Top and Bottom Busty for household, manufacturing and steam coal. It had 85 men in 1954 and 1955 and 87 in 1958, working the Busty alone, and it closed in August 1958. The plans of its Top and Bottom Busty workings are dated 1959.

Geology

Durham coalfield, south-west: the Bottom Busty, with the Harvey in 1940 and the Top Busty by 1950.

Workings

A small colliery working the Busty seams.

Closure

Closed in August 1958 working the Busty alone; its Top and Bottom Busty plans are dated 1959.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

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 colliery is recorded as closed between 1938 and 1942, perhaps reopening after. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The South Shildon Coal Company opened the colliery in 1929, working the Bottom Busty with 22 men. ¹
• The South Shildon Coal Co. worked the colliery in 1936 and 1945. ^1,2
• The colliery is recorded as closed between 1938 and 1942, perhaps reopening after. (uncertain) ²
• In 1950 it employed 100, working the Top and Bottom Busty. ¹
• South Shildon Colliery closed in 1958. ^1,2
• The Top and Bottom Busty plans of South Shildon are dated 1959. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) South Shildon Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Durham Collieries: South Shildon Colliery (Middridge Grange) — Durham County Record Office
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: South Shildon, Bottom Busty 'Q2' — British Geological Survey

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