Wooley Colliery

Overview

A Pease and Partners pit near Crook, sunk in August 1864 as part of the Pease's West group with Roddymoor, which worked six shallow seams for coking coal and employed up to 685 men in 1948.

History

Wooley Colliery lay near Crook, six and a half miles west-south-west of Durham, on ground about 700 feet above sea level in the parishes of Brancepeth and Crook and Billy Row. Its pit was sunk in August 1864 as part of Joseph Pease and Partners' Pease's West Colliery: the section records the Ballarat or Top Busty at about 315 feet, the Five Quarter or Bottom Busty at about 333, the Three Quarter or 'B' seam at about 385 and the Brockwell, 3 ft 8 in, at about 462 feet. It was raising coal by 1865.

Under Pease and Partners it worked the Busty, Five Quarter, Harvey and Yard, and later the Main, Ballarat and 'B' seams, for coking and manufacturing coal. Employment rose from 244 in 1883 to 439 in 1905 and 589 in 1910, and passed 600 in 1921. The Main seam was abandoned in 1896, the Harvey and Victoria in 1911 and the 'B' seam on 1 July 1931, and from September 1931 the colliery was discontinued, with only 14 men in 1935; the Brockwell was abandoned on the Peases West plan in 1934. It was working again by 1940 with 586 men and reached 685 in 1948, working the Ballarat, Harvey and Yard. The Record Office records a closure in 1951 in one list and 1963 in another; the Durham Mining Museum gives 1963.

Geology

Durham coalfield, western side, about 700 ft above sea level: the Ballarat or Top Busty (1 ft 5 in) at about 315 ft, the Five Quarter or Bottom Busty at about 333 ft, the Three Quarter or 'B' seam at about 385 ft and the Brockwell (3 ft 8 in) at about 462 ft; the Yard, Harvey, Victoria and Main were also worked.

Workings

The Wooley Pit of Pease's West Colliery, sunk 1864.

Closure

Discontinued from September 1931 to the late 1930s; closed in 1963 (1951 in one Record Office list).

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Roddymoor Colliery — Both pits of Pease and Partners' Pease's West Colliery; the Wooley Pit was sunk in 1864 as part of the group, and the Brockwell was abandoned on one Peases West plan in 1934.

What's uncertain

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

• Wooley Colliery closed in 1963. (disputed) ^3,2
• Wooley Colliery closed in 1951. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The Wooley Pit of Pease's West Colliery was sunk in August 1864. ^1,2
• Joseph Pease and Partners, later Pease and Partners, worked Wooley Colliery. ^3,2
• The Brockwell seam, 3 ft 8 in thick, lay at about 462 feet. ¹
• The 'B' seam was abandoned on 1 July 1931. ^4,5
• In 1948 the colliery employed 685. ³
• Wooley Colliery closed in 1963. (disputed) ^3,2
• Wooley Colliery closed in 1951. (disputed) ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Wooley Colliery: section of strata at Wooley Pit, Pease's West Colliery, 1864 — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Durham Collieries: Wooley Colliery (Brancepeth) — Durham County Record Office
3. (primary) Wooley Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) Wooley Colliery: catalogue of plans of abandoned mines — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Wooley, 'B' seam, 1931 — British Geological Survey

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