Toronto Colliery

Overview

W. C. Stobart and Co.'s colliery at Newton Cap, above the Wear north-west of Bishop Auckland, sunk from 1857 and named Toronto after the Canadian city. Most of its coal went into coke; it closed in 1926, reopened in 1937 and worked on a small scale into the 1960s.

History

Coal was proved by boring at Newton Cap as early as 1782. In November 1857 W. C. Stobart and Co. began sinking the Lyon's Winning to the Brockwell seam, and on 21 October 1859 the Barrington Pit, which met the Brockwell at about 306 feet. Stobart, the story goes, was in Toronto in 1859 when word came that coal had been found under his land, and named the colliery after the city; the village that grew on the high north bank of the Wear took the name too, a purely colliery village owing its existence to the pit. Henry Stobart and Co. were the owners from the 1860s. In 1894 the colliery met the Harvey at 8 fathoms, the Constantine, the Five Quarter at 30 fathoms and the Brockwell, the principal seam, 5 feet 6 inches thick, at 53 fathoms; there were two shafts, nearly all the 700 tons raised a day was made into coke, and about 500 men and boys were employed.

The workforce reached 889 in 1915. The colliery closed in 1926, and its plans for the Harvey, Constantine, Busty, Brockwell, Hutton, Main, Five Quarter and Three Quarter were deposited as abandoned at the end of 1928. It reopened in 1937 under the North Bitchburn Fireclay Company and worked the Busty and Constantine, later the Tilley, with about a hundred men. It is recorded as closed in 1967, though a few men were still returned in the Tilley in the 1970s, and the last plans, abandoned in May 1976, cover Newton Cap together with North Bitchburn, Middle Bitchburn, Rough Lea, Howden and Hunwick. An under-manager and a stoneman were killed together on 1 March 1897 when a baulk broke as they were timbering a new horse pump house, bringing down the roof.

Geology

Durham Coal Measures: the Harvey at 8 fathoms (1 foot 8 inches), the Constantine (2 feet 6 inches), the Five Quarter at 30 fathoms (4 feet 6 inches) and the Brockwell at 53 fathoms (5 feet 6 inches); later the Busty, Hutton and Tilley (Constantine or Tilley 'P'), with fireclay.

Workings

The Lyon's Winning (1857) and the Barrington Pit (1859), the A and B pits of the 1890s; coke ovens; fireclay working after 1937.

Closure

Closed 1926, reopened 1937; recorded as closed in 1967, with final plans abandoned in May 1976.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• North Bitchburn Colliery — Their last plans were abandoned together, with Rough Lea, in May 1976.
• Rough Lea Colliery — Rough Lea's pipe works used fireclay and coal from Newton Cap; their last plans were abandoned together in 1976.
• Woodhouse Close Colliery — The 1928 abandonment catalogue groups Newton Cap with Woodhouse Close and Dene.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• W. C. Stobart named the colliery Toronto after the Canadian city, where he was in 1859 when coal was found under his land. (uncertain) ³

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking of the Barrington Pit began on 21 October 1859; the Lyon's Winning had been begun in November 1857. ^1,2
• W. C. Stobart named the colliery Toronto after the Canadian city, where he was in 1859 when coal was found under his land. (uncertain) ³
• In 1894 the colliery raised 700 tons a day, nearly all made into coke, with about 500 men and boys. ¹
• The colliery closed in 1926, reopened in 1937 and is recorded as closed in 1967. ¹
• The last abandonment plans for Newton Cap, with North Bitchburn, Middle Bitchburn, Rough Lea, Howden and Hunwick, are dated 15 May 1976. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Newton Cap Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Newton Cap Colliery: Barrington Pit shaft details — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Toronto, County Durham — Wikipedia
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Newton Cap (incl. North Bitchburn, Middle Bitchburn, Rough Lea, Howden and Hunwick), Constantine or Tilley 'P', abandoned 1976 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

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