West Pelton Colliery

Overview

The Joiceys' colliery at West Pelton, opened in 1858 with the Engine, Alma and Whitehall pits; it raised coking and gas coal with 300 to 400 men and was abandoned in March 1921.

History

West Pelton Colliery lay at West Pelton, six miles north-north-west of Durham. James Joicey and Company opened it in 1858 and held it throughout. Its pits were the Engine Pit, the Alma Pit and the Whitehall Pit, and in 1857 a staple was put down to the Hutton at Handen Hold as part of the colliery. The account of the Engine Pit's strata, from a surface 345 feet above sea level, records the Five Quarter, five feet thick, at about 68 feet, the Main Coal at about 123, the Maudlin at about 276, the Low Main at about 303 and the Hutton, 5 ft 3 in, at about 351 feet.

It raised coking and gas coal, with fireclay in the 1910s, and employed between 300 and 390 men from 1894 to 1921, working the Five Quarter, Low Main and Maudlin, and later the Hutton, Main Coal and Shield Row. The Low Main, Hutton, Main, Five Quarter and Maudlin of the West Pelton and Twizell, Gate and Handenhold workings were abandoned on 6 November 1909, and the Beaumont on 15 March 1913. On 19 March 1921 the Hutton, Shield Row, Low Main, Five Quarter and Maudlin of the Alma and Whitehall pits were abandoned, and the colliery closed.

Geology

Durham coalfield, about 345 ft above sea level at the Engine Pit: the Five Quarter (5 ft) at about 68 ft, the Main Coal (4 ft 9 in) at about 123 ft, the Maudlin (3 ft 7 in) at about 276 ft, the Low Main (3 ft) at about 303 ft and the Hutton (5 ft 3 in) at about 351 ft; the Shield Row and Beaumont were also worked.

Workings

The Engine, Alma and Whitehall pits, with the Handen Hold staple of 1857.

Closure

Workings were abandoned in 1909 and 1913; the Alma and Whitehall pits' seams were abandoned on 19 March 1921, when the colliery closed.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Handen Hold Colliery — Handen Hold began in 1857 as a staple of West Pelton Colliery, and the two shared abandonment plans in 1909 and 1913; both were the Joiceys'.

Recorded claims

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

• West Pelton Colliery opened in 1858 under James Joicey and Co. ¹
• James Joicey and Co. owned West Pelton Colliery. ^1,2
• The colliery was also called West Pelton Colliery (Whitehall Pit). ²
• In the Engine Pit the Hutton seam, 5 ft 3 in thick, lay at about 351 feet. ³
• The Low Main, Hutton, Main, Five Quarter and Maudlin of West Pelton and Twizell were abandoned on 6 November 1909. ^4,5
• The colliery was abandoned in 1921, with 390 employed that year. ^1,4
• The colliery is shown on the Ordnance Survey maps of 1898 and 1921 and as disused on that of 1939. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - West Pelton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Durham Collieries: West Pelton Colliery (Chester-le-Street) — Durham County Record Office
3. (primary) West Pelton Colliery: strata in the Engine Pit — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) West Pelton Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Pelton West and Twizell, 1909 — British Geological Survey

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