Woodland Colliery

Overview

A colliery at the upland village of Woodland in south-west County Durham, at work by 1874, which raised coking coal from the Five-Quarter, Main, Busty and Brockwell seams and closed in March 1921; its Cowley shaft of 1896 worked on with the Arnghyll drifts.

History

Woodland Colliery stood at Woodland, sixteen miles south-west of Durham on the edge of the coalfield. It was at work by April 1874, when a hewer was killed leaping from the cage, and in the same year a series of borings near the colliery proved the Brockwell seam. A shaft was sunk to the Brockwell north of the Woodlands Pit in 1881, more boreholes followed in 1893, and in 1896 the Cowley shaft was sunk to the same seam about three quarters of a mile to the south.

The owners were the Woodland Coal Co. Ltd in the 1880s and the Woodland Collieries Co. Ltd in the 1890s; by the 1920s the colliery belonged to the Cargo Fleet Iron Co. Ltd. Output is listed from 1888 and from 1894 as coking and manufacturing coal. Employment grew from 155 in 1894 to 302 in 1900, with Cowley included, 426 in 1910 and 494 in 1921, 384 of them below ground. The Five-Quarter and Main Coal were the seams worked in 1905 and 1910, and the Ballarat, Brockwell, Busty and Main Coal in 1921.

A Brockwell plan had been deposited as abandoned in 1892 and the Busty followed in 1919. The colliery closed in March 1921, when the remaining seams were abandoned. Four men were still listed at Cowley in 1923, and the Cowley shaft continued with the Arnghyll workings as Arnghyll and Cowley until May 1951.

Geology

Coal Measures at the western edge of the Durham coalfield. The Woodland shaft passed the Five-Quarter seam, 4 feet 7 inches thick with a band, at 68 feet and the Main Coal, 6 feet 1 inch with a band, at 136 feet; the Busty and Brockwell lay below and were reached by the 1881 and Cowley shafts.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

The Woodlands Pit, a shaft of 1881 to the Brockwell seam north of it, and the Cowley shaft of 1896 to the south, worked together from 1900.

Closure

Closed in March 1921; the Ballarat, Brockwell or Main and Busty or Five-Quarter seams were abandoned that year and a further Brockwell or Main plan in 1924. The Cowley shaft was worked afterwards with Arnghyll.

What remains

At the Cowley shaft the ground is rough pasture, with low grassed mounds of spoil, patches of bare shale and a circular concrete ring in the grass.

Grassed spoil mounds and a concrete ring at the site of the Cowley shaft.

Related mines

• Arnghyll Colliery — The Cowley shaft, sunk in 1896 as part of Woodland Colliery, was worked on with Arnghyll as Arnghyll and Cowley until 1951; both belonged to the Cargo Fleet Iron Co. Ltd.

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery was owned by the Woodland Coal Co. Ltd in the 1880s, the Woodland Collieries Co. Ltd in the 1890s and the Cargo Fleet Iron Co. Ltd in the 1920s, and closed in March 1921. ¹
• Borings proved the Brockwell seam near the colliery in 1874, a shaft was sunk to it north of the Woodlands Pit in 1881, and the Cowley shaft was sunk to it in 1896. ^1,2
• Employment was 155 in 1894, 302 in 1900, 426 in 1910 and 494 in 1921, of whom 384 worked below ground. ¹
• The Woodland shaft passed the Five-Quarter seam, 4 feet 7 inches thick, at 68 feet and the Main Coal, 6 feet 1 inch thick, at 136 feet. ³
• Plans for Woodland were deposited as abandoned for the Brockwell seam in 1892, the Busty in 1919 and the Main in 1921. ^4,5
• The Cowley shaft was listed with Arnghyll as Arnghyll and Cowley, Woodland, from 1915 until May 1951. ⁶
• In 2023 the site of the Cowley shaft was rough pasture with grassed spoil mounds. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Woodland Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (observational) Site of Cowley Colliery, 2023 — Geograph (David Robinson)
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Woodland Colliery shaft details — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) BGS mine plans catalogue: Woodland (Durham), Main seam, abandoned 1921 — Mining Remediation Authority / BGS mine plans catalogue
5. (primary) BGS mine plans catalogue: Woodland (Durham), Busty seam, abandoned 1919 — Mining Remediation Authority / BGS mine plans catalogue
6. (secondary) Northumberland and Durham Coalfield (NCB colliery list) — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 5 October 2026 · Last researched: 5 October 2026