3372
Garesfield Colliery
High Spen
54.933051,-1.784073
Bute Pit
A Pit
Opened:
Closed:
1837
1950s
Entry Created:
3 Sept 2021
Last Updated:
13 Aug 2024
Redeveloped
Condition:
Owners:
Marquis of Bute (1860s), Consett Iron Co. Ltd. (1890s), National Coal Board (1947-)
Description (or HER record listing)
Garesfield Colliery, A Pit, was served by Garesfield Wagonway, (HER 1591). Garesfield Colliery opened in 1800, A Pit in 1837 and closed 29 January 1960. Opened by the Marquis of Bute, later Consett Iron Company Ltd, and from 1947 the National Coal Board.
NEHL - Bute Pit was the foundation of High Spen as a settlement in itself. Our first view of Bute Pit is in the 1850s, when the colliery was connected by rail to the Garesfield Staith at Derwenthaugh (this site https://www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/features/consett-staiths) by a long and winding waggonway. This waggonway first opened in 1801 and was fully redesigned by George Stephenson and George Hill, however it likely used old trackways and earthworks from the dozens of 17th and early 18th century railways in the region.
It was between the 1860s and 1890s that High Spen form itself as larger than a lane. There were 6 or 7 pit rows west of the colliery, 2 rows on its eastern side, and a substantial settlement to the north where the Miners Arms was situated. These were small rectangular dwellings, likely the earliest and the first to go in turn of the century clearances. The original farming settlement appears to be that at the south, around the Bute Arms.
High Spen was designated a Category D village in the early 50s - around the same time the pit was dwindling and output fell dramatically. Therefore many of these rows were demolished in the coming decades. The site of the A pit is now a large recreation field.

Ordnance Survey, 1896

Bute Pit, date unknown. Source: Durham Mining Communities, Facebook
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High Spen and Bute Pit in 1934. Source: © Historic England. Aerofilms Collection EPW043815 flown February 1934
Historic Environment Records
Durham/Northumberland: Keys to the Past
Tyne and Wear: Sitelines
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