Wheatley Hill Colliery

Overview

An East Durham colliery sunk in 1869 on the dip of the Thornley royalty, where an inrush from Thornley's flooded workings killed miners within months of opening, and which worked for almost exactly a century until 1968.

History

Boring on the Wheatley Hill estate to prove a new winning was under way by 1861, and Wheatley Hill Colliery was sunk from the surface to the Busty seam in 1869. It lay on the dip side of the royalty whose rise was worked by the Thornley collieries under the same owners, and in 1870 a holing was made in the Main Coal seam between Thornley and Wheatley Hill to drain water from Thornley. In January 1871 a place being driven in the colliery broke into abandoned, water-filled Thornley headways and men were drowned (see Disasters, below). Five men and boys died according to the Durham Mining Museum, while the Northern Mine Research Society names seven (see Disasters, below). The coroner's jury returned manslaughter verdicts against the chief viewer, William Spencer, the resident viewer, William Hay, and the overman, Thomas Watson, but the case failed at the Durham assizes.

The Weardale Iron and Coal Company took the colliery over in 1885. By 1894 the Five Quarter and Main Coal seams were exhausted and the colliery worked the Low Main at 148 fathoms, the Hutton at 166, the Harvey at 190 and the Busty at 195, raising 350 tons a day. It grew rapidly, from 426 workers in 1894 to 1,485 in 1905 and a peak of 1,874 across its two pits in 1925, and passed to the National Coal Board in 1947. After almost exactly a hundred years of working it closed on 3 May 1968.

Geology

The Five Quarter and Main Coal (exhausted by 1894), Low Main (3 feet 1 inch at the shaft, at 148 fathoms), Hutton (3 feet 3 inches, 166 fathoms), Harvey (3 feet 10 inches, 190 fathoms) and Busty (4 feet 2 inches, 195 fathoms) seams, lying on the dip of the Thornley royalty.

Workings

Sunk to the Busty in 1869; No.1 and No.2 pits; connected to the Thornley workings by an 1870 holing in the Main Coal made to draw water off from Thornley.

Closure

Closed on 3 May 1968, almost exactly a century after it was sunk; its last seams, the Top and Bottom Hutton, were abandoned that year.

What remains

The colliery has gone; a pit-wheel memorial stands in the village.

A winding wheel set on a brick plinth as the Wheatley Hill Colliery memorial.

Related mines

• Thornley Colliery — Same owners and royalty: an 1870 holing in the Main Coal joined the two collieries to drain Thornley, and the 1871 inrush came from abandoned Thornley workings.

Disasters & major incidents

• Wheatley Hill Colliery inrush, 1871
  January 1871 · Flooding / Inundation · 5 fatalities
  In January 1871 a place being driven at Wheatley Hill Colliery to drain water from old Thornley workings holed unexpectedly into them, and the water drowned men working there. The coroner's jury found manslaughter against the chief viewer, resident viewer and overman, but the case collapsed at the Durham assizes.
• Wheatley Hill Colliery explosion, 1876
  26 September 1876 · Explosion · 4 fatalities

  On 26 September 1876 an explosion of gas killed four at Wheatley Hill Colliery, in County Durham, and they were buried together at Thornley.

  George Dixon Dobinson, a back overman of 34, James Kelly Ayack, a collier of 24, Thomas Quinn, a collier of 22, and William Edward Johns Abram, a putter of 16, were all killed by an explosion of gas. The four were buried in St Bartholomew's churchyard at Thornley, and the disaster is marked by a memorial. The colliery belonged to the Original Hartlepool Collieries Co.

• Wheatley Hill Colliery shaft accident, 1879
  8 December 1879 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 2 fatalities

  On 8 December 1879 two shaftmen fell about a hundred yards from a cradle in the upcast shaft at Wheatley Hill Colliery, in County Durham, and were killed.

  Oliver Thompson, aged 35, and Thomas Watson, aged 30, both shaftmen, were taking brattice out of the upcast shaft when they both fell off the cradle a distance of about a hundred yards. There did not appear to be anything unusual to account for the accident.

Culture

• Wheatley Hill Colliery Band (Music)
  The colliery band, formed in the early 1890s, which folded shortly after the pit closed in 1968; the mine manager Matthew Barrass appears in its 1910 photograph.

Recorded claims

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

• Wheatley Hill was sunk to the Busty seam in 1869, after boring from 1861; in 1870 a holing was made in the Main Coal between Thornley and Wheatley Hill collieries. ¹
• In 1871 the Original Hartlepool Collieries Company owned the colliery; the inrush came from abandoned headways of the Thornley workings. ²
• The coroner's jury found manslaughter against chief viewer William Spencer, resident viewer William Hay and overman Thomas Watson; the case was thrown out at the Durham assizes. ²
• In 1894 the Weardale Iron and Coal Company worked the Low Main, Hutton, Harvey and Busty seams for 350 tons a day; employment rose to 1,874 in 1925. ¹
• Wheatley Hill closed on 3 May 1968; its Top and Bottom Hutton seams were abandoned in 1968. ^1,3

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Wheatley Hill Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Wheatley Hill Colliery Inrush – Ferryhill – 1871 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans catalogue: Wheatley Hill (Bottom Hutton, 1968) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026