Togston Colliery

Overview

A small colliery near Amble owned by Cowan & Co. in the 1860s and the Togston Coal Company in the 1890s, employing 62 people in 1894, where a lightning strike killed a pitman by the engine furnace in 1859.

History

Togston Colliery stood near Amble and Acklington, 8½ miles south-south-east of Alnwick. The Durham Mining Museum returns coal from it in 1855, 1860 and 1865 and steam coal in 1894 and 1896. Cowan & Co. owned it in the 1860s and the Togston Coal Company Ltd in the 1890s, when it employed 62 people in 1894, 52 of them below ground, and 56 in 1896. A local account has the Togston pit opening a few years after Radcliffe Colliery gave out in 1892, with a line connecting it to the Radcliffe Colliery railway; the colliers that carried coal from Amble harbour were named for villages such as Togston.

On 1 December 1859 the 20-year-old pitman Michael Cowell was killed by lightning when it struck beside the engine furnace and its 58-foot chimney, where he and his brother had gone to warm themselves before going down; the overman was knocked down and the brother scorched. The sinker Thomas Thompson fell down the shaft on 6 January 1868, James Dawson was killed by a fall of coal in 1881, and on 6 December 1899 Christopher Robertson Copeland, 31, fell down the shaft, dislodging timber that narrowly missed men at the bottom.

Geology

Unknown.

Workings

A railway connected the colliery with the Radcliffe Colliery line.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Radcliffe Colliery — A railway connected Togston Colliery with the Radcliffe Colliery line, and the two appear on the same abandonment plans.

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 Togston pit opened a few years after Radcliffe Colliery gave out in 1892, with a line connecting it to the Radcliffe Colliery railway. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Cowan & Co. owned the colliery in the 1860s and the Togston Coal Company Ltd in the 1890s. ¹
• Coal is returned from the colliery in 1855, 1860 and 1865 and steam coal in 1894 and 1896. ¹
• The colliery employed 62 people in 1894, 52 below ground, and 56 in 1896. ¹
• The Togston pit opened a few years after Radcliffe Colliery gave out in 1892, with a line connecting it to the Radcliffe Colliery railway. (disputed) ²
• The pitman Michael Cowell was killed by lightning beside the engine furnace and chimney on 1 December 1859. ^1,3
• Christopher Robertson Copeland, 31, fell down the shaft on 6 December 1899. ³
• The British Geological Survey catalogues abandonment plans that cover the Togston workings with those of Broomhill, Chevington East, Coldrife, Togston East, Dawson's and Radcliffe. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Togston Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Coal Mining - Bailiffgate Collections — Bailiffgate Museum & Gallery
3. (secondary) The Amble and District Mining Memorial: Togston Colliery — Amble and District Local History (fusilier.co.uk)
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: BROOMHILL CHEVINGTON EAST/COLDRIFE/TOGSTON/TOGSTON EAST/DAWSON'S/RADCLIFFE — British Geological Survey

Record created: 29 September 2026 · Last researched: 29 September 2026