Stiddle Hill Colliery

Overview

A moorland colliery at Stiddlehill, Ridsdale, near Bellingham, also called Ridsdale Colliery, with an Engine Pit, the Folly Pit and a pit sunk in 1874; it worked the Thirty Inch, Limestone and Fourlaws coals until 1931.

History

Stiddle Hill Colliery, also recorded as Ridsdale Colliery, lay on the moors at Stiddlehill near Ridsdale, north-west of Hexham near Bellingham, some 800 to 1,000 feet above sea level. A colliery was working there from about 1873. It had three pits: the Engine Pit, the Foaly or Folly Pit, and the Stiddle Hill Pit, sunk in December 1874. In 1876 the overman, George Todd, was crushed by a waggon on the surface.

Through the 1880s it was a landsale pit of William Mundle, and in the 1890s of Edward Armstrong. The Thirty Inch seam was abandoned at the end of 1893 as exhausted. In the 1910s it worked the Limestone Coal with six to eight men, and from 1923 the Fourlaws seam, with up to 18 men in 1924, for household and steam coal, under the Tyne Rede Mines Company and Ernest Barker. It was temporarily closed in 1927, had five men in 1930, and the Fourlaws seam was abandoned in August 1931. A shaft, a blocked drift entrance, a stone chimney and a short length of railway remain.

Geology

The Engine Pit, at about 970 feet above sea level, passed through sandstone (freestone) and grey beds to the Thirty Inches seam, 3 feet 11 inches thick, at 119 feet 11 inches. The Stiddle Hill Pit cut sandstone, shale and whin to a coal 3 feet 1 inch thick at 107 feet. The colliery worked the Thirty Inch, Limestone Coal and Fourlaws seams.

Workings

The Engine Pit, the Foaly (Folly) Pit and the Stiddle Hill Pit, with a drift and a short railway.

Closure

Temporarily closed in 1927; the Fourlaws seam was abandoned in August 1931, on the 19th by the plan and the 29th by the Durham Mining Museum.

What remains

A shaft, a blocked drift entrance, a stone chimney and a short length of railway survive; no buildings or machinery remain.

Shaft, blocked drift entrance, stone chimney and a short length of railway.

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 Fourlaws seam at Ridsdale or Stiddle Hill was abandoned on 19 August 1931. (disputed) ⁴
• The Fourlaws seam at Stiddle Hill was abandoned on 29 August 1931. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• Stiddle Hill (Ridsdale) Colliery had an Engine Pit, a Foaly or Folly Pit and the Stiddle Hill Pit, sunk in December 1874. ^1,2
• Stiddle Hill was owned by William Mundle in the 1880s, Edward Armstrong in the 1890s, and the Tyne Rede Mines Company and Ernest Barker in the 1920s. ¹
• The Thirty Inch seam at Stiddle Hill was abandoned on 1 December 1893. ³
• The Fourlaws seam at Ridsdale or Stiddle Hill was abandoned on 19 August 1931. (disputed) ⁴
• The Fourlaws seam at Stiddle Hill was abandoned on 29 August 1931. (disputed) ¹
• The Engine Pit section reaches 126 feet 3 inches, through the Thirty Inches seam at 119 feet 11 inches. ⁵
• A shaft, a blocked drift entrance, a stone chimney and a short length of railway remain at Stiddlehill. ⁶

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Stiddle Hill Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Stiddle Hill Colliery: Stiddle Hill Pit section, December 1874 — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21922745: Stiddle Hill, Thirty Inch, abandoned 1 December 1893 — British Geological Survey
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21942382: Ridsdale or Stiddle Hill, Fourlaws, abandoned 19 August 1931 — British Geological Survey
5. (primary) Ridsdale Colliery: Engine Pit section — Durham Mining Museum
6. (secondary) Stiddlehill Colliery — North East Heritage Library (Coals Archive)

Record created: 22 October 2026 · Last researched: 22 October 2026