Ventners Hall Colliery

Overview

A drift mine near Greenhead in the Tyne Gap, opened in 1937 on the Thirlwall Coal and known as the Robin Rock Drift, which worked out an area two kilometres by one before the National Coal Board closed it in 1959.

History

Ventners Hall Colliery, also called the Robin Rock Drift, lay near Greenhead in the Tyne Gap, fourteen miles west-north-west of Hexham. Ventners Hall Colliery Ltd opened it in 1937 to work the Thirlwall Coal, a seam about a metre thick dipping south, described in 1912 as excellent for household, steam and coking purposes; coal was brought out up the main drift by conveyor. It worked the seam on a larger scale than the Wallshield and Rushey Hill pits nearby, and in its western part shared their difficult roof.

The National Coal Board took it over in 1947, when 150 men raised 45,000 tons of gas, household and steam coal; it had 190 men in 1949, 110 in 1951 and 1952, and 167 from 1957, all on the Thirlwall seam. Coal was worked out from an area two kilometres by one before the colliery was closed on 20 February 1959. By the time of the Geological Survey's resurvey little remained at the surface: the tips and pithead gear had been levelled and removed. A Back Drift was still open at the time of the resurvey, and a new adit, the New Robin Rock Drift, was later driven close by under licence from the Coal Board.

Geology

Northumberland, Tyne Gap: the Thirlwall Coal of the Carboniferous Upper Border Group, about 1 m thick (averaging 90 cm), dipping south at about 1 in 10, commonly with a mudstone or seatearth roof.

Workings

The main Robin Rock drift, with coal brought out by conveyor, and a Back Drift; worked area about 2 km by 1 km.

Closure

Closed by the National Coal Board on 20 February 1959, with the Thirlwall seam abandoned three days later.

What remains

Little remains at the surface; the tips and pithead gear were levelled and removed (BGS resurvey).

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Ventners Hall Colliery opened in 1937. ¹
• Ventners Hall Colliery worked the Thirlwall Coal, on a larger scale than the neighbouring pits, until 1959. ^1,2
• The coal was worked out from an area 2 km by 1 km before the NCB closed the colliery in 1959. ²
• In 1947 the colliery raised 45,000 tons with 150 men. ¹
• The colliery closed on 20 February 1959; the Thirlwall seam was abandoned on 23 February 1959. ^1,3
• The tips and pithead gear have been levelled and removed. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Ventners Hall Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Geology of the country around Bellingham (BGS memoir for 1:50 000 sheet 13) — British Geological Survey
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: Ventners Hall or Robin Rock Drift / Wallshields, Thirlwall seam, 1959 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 6 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026