Sunniside Colliery

Overview

A Pease colliery at Sunniside, near Tow Law, sunk in 1866-68 as the New Sunniside Pit of Pease's West Collieries. It stood for long spells, was abandoned in April 1925 and later reopened, working coal beneath the village school until 1965.

History

The New Sunniside Pit of Pease's West Collieries was sunk in 1867, part of a sinking carried out between 1866 and 1868, and its shaft went down about 225 feet. The colliery complex had several drifts and shafts, two of them drifts beneath the River Deerness with another shaft on its north bank, probably opened by Pease for access and ventilation. Joseph Pease and Partners owned it in the 1880s, when it employed 230; it had 312 men in 1894 and 1896. Sunniside grew to a village of over 1,500, though many of the men who settled there worked at neighbouring pits around Crook and Tow Law.

The colliery stood idle around 1900; in 1905 its workings were counted with Roddymoor and in 1910 with Eden. The Consett Iron Company held it in the 1900s, T. Spence and Partners in the 1920s and the Sunniside Coal Company from 1924, working the Hutton with a handful of men until it was abandoned on 11 April 1925. Many miners and their families then moved to the bigger, deeper pits of the Durham coast. The pit was reopened for a time between 1937 and 1965, working coal beneath the village school.

Geology

Durham Coal Measures: the Hutton.

Workings

The New Sunniside Pit (1867) with drifts and shafts beside the River Deerness.

Closure

Abandoned on 11 April 1925; reopened for a period between 1937 and 1965.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Roddymoor Colliery — Pease's West Collieries; in 1905 Sunniside's workings were returned on the Roddymoor plan.

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 pit was reopened for a period between 1937 and 1965, with coal worked beneath the village school. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The New Sunniside Pit of Pease's West Collieries was sunk in 1867; the main pit was sunk between 1866 and 1868. ^1,2
• The Sunniside Colliery complex had several drifts and shafts, including two drifts beneath the River Deerness, probably opened by Pease. ³
• The colliery was abandoned on 11 April 1925. ^4,2
• The pit was reopened for a period between 1937 and 1965, with coal worked beneath the village school. (uncertain) ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Sunniside Colliery: New Sunniside Pit shaft details — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Keep Your Sunniside Up: A Fine Book on Sunniside Reviewed — Three Score Years and Ten (blog)
3. (secondary) Sunniside Colliery, Drift Mine (Coals Archive) — North East Heritage Library
4. (primary) Sunniside Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026