Hedley Hill Colliery

Location:

nr. Tow Law
7 miles [11 km] W of Durham

Map Ref:

(Sheet 88) NZ165412, 54° 45' 55" N, 1° 44' 37" W

Maps:

1898 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide

1928 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide

Opened:

1870's

Closed:

Nov 1929

Pits:

Shaft details for

Shaft details for Hedley Hill Colliery

Owners:

???? - Weardale Iron & Coal Co. Ltd.

1900's - Weardale Steel, Coal & Coke Co. Ltd.

1940's - Bells House Coal Co.

Output:

1873 - Coal.

1888 - Coal.

1896 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.

1902 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.

1914 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing. Fireclay.

1921 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.

1930 - Coal: Coking, Manufacturing.

1940 - Coal: Coking, Household, Manufacturing. (4,200 tons)

1950 - Ballarat Drift - Coal: Coking, Household.

1950 - Three Quarter Drift - Coal: Household. Fireclay.

1955 - Ballarat Drift - Coal: Steam.

1960 - Ballarat Drift - Coal: Industrial.

1964 - Ballarat Drift - Coal: Industrial.

Employment:

Year	Pit	Total	Below	Above
1896		361	263	98
1902		306	231	75
1914		286	259	27
1921		59	47	12
1930		Abandoned 1/30
1940		26	22	4
1945	Ballarat Drift	23	19	4
1945	Three Quarter Drift	14	12	2
	Total	37	31	6
1950	Ballarat Drift	13	9	4
1950	Ballarat Drift	Abandoned 3/49
1950	Three Quarter Drift	9	8	1
	Total	22	17	5
1955	Ballarat Drift	22	20	2
1960	Ballarat Drift	22	20	2
1964	Ballarat Drift	26	24	2

Colliery Management (prior to 1955)

Seams Worked:

1894 - Ballarat, Five Quarter, Main

1914 - Ballarat, Five Quarter, Harvey, Main Coal, Three Quarter

1921 - Ballarat, Five Quarter, Harvey, Main Coal, Three Quarter

1930 - Main [Abandoned 1/30]

1940 - Ballarat, Three Quarter

1950 - Ballarat Drift - Ballarat [Abandoned 3/49]

1950 - Three Quarter Drift - Three Quarter

1955 - Ballarat Drift - Ballarat

1960 - Ballarat Drift - Ballarat

1964 - Ballarat Drift - Ballarat

Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Hedley Hill Colliery

Notes:

1908-1912 - Closed

1914-1915 - Closed

1921-1923 - Closed

1928, 24 Sep - Five Quarter seam abandoned

1930, 09 Jan - Main seam abandoned

1949, Dec - Three Quarter (or Yard) seam discontinued

1949, Mar - Ballarat seam abandoned

Description

Hedleyhill Colliery is worked by the Weardale Iron & Coal Co., and has been in operation about eighteen years. Here the Main Coal seam, 3 feet, the Five Quarter, 2 feet 9 inches, and the Ballarat, 20 inches, are being worked by several drifts. The output, which amounts to 500 tons per day, is nearly all converted into coke, and employment is given to about 500 men and boys. Hedleyhope and East Hedleyhope are collieries worked by Sir. W. Samuelson & Co., at which places similar seams to the above are being worked and large quantities of coke is made.

East Hedleyhope Colliery forms a village about three miles from Waterhouses. It is well situated, and surrounded by fine scenery, through which the Dearness, a pleasant stream, flows eastward.

Hedleyhill is another colliery village on the north eastern boundary of the township [Hedleyhope], four miles from Tow Law. Here are most of the houses, and the school for the East Hedleyhill miners on the south side of the hill, where the colliery is situated.

The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel at Hedleyhill, formed by two houses put to that purpose, and lent by the colliery proprietors. There is accommodation for 150. In 1881 it was comfortably fitted in pitch pine, at a cost of £119, by voluntary subscriptions. The same body have erected a small iron chapel at East Hedleyhope, which will seat about 200.

The British School at East Hedleyhope, was built in 1877, by the colliery owners. There is accommodation for 350, and the average attendance is 180. The Primitives and Wesleyans hold services in this school in turn.

The Hedleyhill British School, for mixed and infants, will accommodate 150; the average attendance is about 96. This school was erected by the Weardale Coal Co., Limited, and enlarged in 1890; a house for the master adjoins.

The Hedleyhill Reading Room and Library is held in rooms provided by the colliery owners, and is well supplied with the usual papers and magazines.

Whellan's 1894 Directory of County Durham

Disasters (5 or more killed)

None found.

Names of those killed at this colliery

Please note that this collection of names is by no means complete!

						Brown, Thomas, 09 Dec 1896, aged 64, Waggonway, After finishing his day's work and on getting to the surface he went into the tub shop and fell down dead from heart disease
						Ellis, William, 02 Jun 1877, aged 60, Collier, fall of stone while working in a broken jud
						Gilling, Edward, 24 Jul 1885, aged 55, Hewer, had a fit in the mine and died same day ; ventilation right
						Herring, Joseph, 17 Apr 1883, (accident: 30 Nov 1882), aged 24, Hewer, died from injuries to spine caused by a fall of stone while at work
						Hutchinson, Hugh, 10 Apr 1877, aged 34, Collier, fall of a large stone in his working place in the broken
						Merrit, James, 09 Nov 1903, aged 49, Hewer, left work feeling ill and died within a few minutes of reaching his home from heart disease
						Murphey, Patrick, 09 May 1878, aged 64, Collier, fall of stone while engaged in taking down a piece of post in roof
						Newton, Thomas, 23 Jun 1897, aged 29, Hewer, An attempt was made to prove there had been an accident to his arm, but the doctor certified death was due to natural causes and no inquest was held
						Richardson, William, 29 Oct 1882, aged 17, Water Leader, fall of stone; he left his own work and commenced to hew coal off side of place under a baulk, which he brought down
						Robson, M., 16 Mar 1883, aged 50, Horse Keeper, died from natural causes while attending to his duties in the stables [fatality reported during the year but not classified as a colliery accident]
						Smith, Thomas, 01 Mar 1875, aged 17, Labourer, struck on the head by a pump handle
						Turpin, John, 17 Mar 1909, (accident: 20 Jan 1909), aged 47, Hewer, He strained himself when lifting a full tub away from the plate ends. He died 17th March, 1909, from cardiac failure after an operation for hernia
						Watson, Robert, 23 Jun 1879, aged 48, Collier, fall of roof while working in his bord

						13 names found

If you know of any fatalities missing from the above list then please contact us with the details and we will add them to our database.

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Hedley Hill Colliery

list of collieries/pits etc. near to Hedley Hill Colliery

Credits

Sources:

1873-4 List of Mines
1875 Mines Inspectors Report (C 1499)
1877 Mines Inspectors Report (C 2003)
1878 Mines Inspectors Report (C 2321)
1879 Mines Inspectors Report (C 2604)
1880 List of Mines
1881 Mines Inspectors Annual Report
1882 Mines Inspectors Report (C 3621)
1883 Mines Inspectors Report (C 4078)
1884 List of Mines
1885 Mines Inspectors Report (C 4760)
1888 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1890 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1896 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, also available online at Peak District Mines Historical Society Ltd
1896 Mines Inspectors Report (C 8450), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1897 Mines Inspectors Report (C 8819), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1902 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1903 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 2119), Durham District (No. 4) by R. D. Bain, H.M. Inspector of Mines, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1909 List of Mines - from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
1909 Mines Inspectors Report (Cd 5177)
1914 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1919 List of Mines - from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
1921 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1930 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1940 Colliery Year Book and Coal Trades Directory published by Louis Cassier Co. Ltd.
1945 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1950 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, from a copy held in the Scottish Mining Museum, Newtongrange, Midlothian
1955 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
1960 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
1964 Guide to the Coalfields published by the Colliery Guardian
History, Topography, and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham by Francis Whellan. Second edition published in 1894.
Industrial Locomotives of Durham by The Industrial Railway Society, compiled by Colin E. Mountford and L. G. Charlton, published in 1977

Further Research:

Research Notes for Hedley Hill Colliery



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