Stanley Cottage Drift

Location	Billy Row and Stanley Crook, near Crook, County Durham — 54.7470, -1.7351 (approximate)
Commodity	Coal
Type	Coal
Worked	1955–17 May 1968
Maximum depth	Unknown.
Operators	National Coal Board (1955–1968)

Overview

A National Coal Board drift near Billy Row and Stanley Crook, opened in 1955 to work the Harvey seam through two drifts, which employed up to 184 and closed in May 1968.

History

Stanley Cottage Drift lay near Billy Row and Stanley Crook, north of Crook, about six and a half miles west-south-west of Durham. The National Coal Board opened it in 1955 to work the Harvey seam, through two drifts, No. 1 and No. 2.

At first it was small, with 44 men from 1956 to 1958 raising coking coal. Employment trebled to 134 in 1959 and reached 184 in 1964, 158 of them underground; by then it was raising household and steam coal, returning to coking coal at the end. It worked the Harvey throughout.

The drift closed in May 1968 with the loss of 156 jobs; its plans record the Harvey workings of both drifts as abandoned on 17 May 1968. No deaths are recorded there.

Geology

The Harvey seam.

Workings

Two drifts, No. 1 and No. 2, in the Harvey seam.

Closure

Closed in May 1968 with the loss of 156 jobs; the Harvey workings were abandoned on 17 May 1968.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Nearby mines

Stanley Colliery, Crook — 0.1 miles (0.2 km) S
Wooley Colliery — 0.6 miles (0.9 km) SE
East Hedley Hope Colliery — 1.1 miles (1.8 km) NW
Hedleyhill Colliery — 1.3 miles (2.1 km) N
Waterhouses Colliery — 1.5 miles (2.4 km) NE

Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (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.

Opened in 1955 to work the Harvey seam. ^1,2,3
Employed 184 people in 1964, 158 of them underground. ^2,3
Worked through two drifts, No. 1 and No. 2. ^2,4
Closed in May 1968 with the loss of 156 jobs. ^1,3
The Harvey workings were abandoned on 17 May 1968. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Stanley Cottage Drift Mine (Co-Curate) (reference)

Newcastle University's local-history page on the drift.

View source

Sources

(secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
(primary) Stanley Cottage Drift — Durham Mining Museum
(secondary) Stanley Cottage Drift Mine — Co-Curate (Newcastle University)
(primary) Stanley Cottage (Nos 1 & 2 Drifts) Mine Plans (Mining Remediation Authority plan D1216, Harvey 'N', abandoned 17 May 1968) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 9 October 2026 · Last researched: 9 October 2026