"The Sacriston and Charlaw collieries are carried on by Messrs. Hunter and Elliott. The seams now worked (1891) are "Low Main," 2 to 3 ft. at 50 fathoms ; "Hutton," 2 ft. 6 in., 60 fathoms ; and "Busty," from 4 to 5 ft. at about 100 fathoms. The output of the Charlaw pit is about 500 tons per day, and the number of hands employed is 300. The Sacriston is expected shortly to be in full operation, when the output is estimated at 1000 tons per day, and the number employed at 600. There are also coke ovens to be erected here shortly."

- Whellan's 1894 Directory of County Durham, retrieved from Durham Mining Museum

NEHL - The Sacriston pit stood to the north of the village, and was already a fairly significant working by the 1850s. It featured at least two shafts (the second may have been for ventilation or seperate access), and was connected to the Waldridge Waggonway via a branch which terminated at the Charlaw Colliery slightly south. By the 1890s, two lines of coke ovens were constructed, alongside a gas works at the north east of the complex. The site has now been wooded.