Barrington Colliery, named after Lord Barrington (who was also related to the Bishop of Durham) was sunk in the 1820s between Bedlington and Guide Post. Choppington was 30 years away yet. In the early days it will have been a modest colliery serving the Longridge family who also owned the Bedlington Ironworks. Therefore, we can presume it was a feeder, or part of the supply chain for the Longridge industrial interests. However, fortunes changed by the 1850s as the Morpeth branch opened, providing a direct route from the pit to the river to transport their coals further afield. This will have certainly resulted in a boom for the owners.

We first gain an insight to the complex in the 1850s, when the pit village was already growing. Both the Henry and Molly pit were situated here, surrounded by a complicated network of small sidings around the screens. On the right hand side was presumably the original sinkers row, and on the left the double row alongside the brick field and clay pit - likely to line the workings and to construct the rows. There was also a couple of pit ponds to pump the water into from the workings below.

By the 1890s it was owned by the Bedlington Coal Co., employing between 500-600 people. Given the growth, the village had another couple of rows bolted on with an extended school and two chapels - a Primitive and a Wesleyan iteration. An Institute was also constructed in the early 1890s which still remains today (https://www.northeastheritagelibrary.co.uk/features/barrington-institute). The pit extracted coals primarily for steam - in engines and for industrial purposes, but was later used for household purchase. This was all alongside the Barrington Brick Works adjoining north, which suffered from a horrific boiler explosion in 1896. It led to the death of Joseph Weatherley after the boiler lacked water and/or had overheated. Of course, the Bedlington Coal Company were not found to blame.

This all remained until the 50s and 60s when everything was cleared, and eventually made way for the industrial estate. The colliery was closed in the 1940s and never made it to be NCB years. Pitmen were presumably redeployed to the Bedlington Collieries.