The Old White Lea Colliery was one of a mass of coal workings in this small area around Roddymoor, Billy Row and Crook. It was the terminus of the West Durham Railway, which connected tons of small pits through West Durham to the mainline and eventually Port Clarence. This makes sense given it was owned by Bolckow Vaughan, so much of this coal will have been shifted eastwards for metal working.

The site is illustrated on the first Ordnance Survey maps. There are two seperate shafts, believed to be known as the Big Pit and Little Pit, with around 4 ground level buildings so was fairly primitive.

Workers were situated at White Lea Square, an interesting colliery settlement which is all but extinct except for earthworks. It was a rectangular shaped settlement on 3 sides with a central line of allotments and gardens. They were presumably single floor with austere facilities.

The pits closed by the 1890s, but possibly in 1878 when the Brockwell Seam was abandoned. It is simply shown as a ventilation shaft by the 1890s, though there were two seperate drifts nearby which may have used the same workings.