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s019A

Sacriston Colliery

Sacriston

54.825937, -1.633143

Opened:

Closed:

1839

1983

Entry Created:

26 May 2022

Last Updated:

20 Dec 2023

Redeveloped

Condition:

Owners: 

William Heward Bell (1850s), Sir George Elliot, Bart. & William Hunter (1860s), Charlaw & Sacriston Collieries Co. Ltd. (1890s), National Coal Board (1947)

Description (or HER record listing)

"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.

Ordnance Survey, 1890s

Ordnance Survey, 1890s

Sacriston Colliery, 1985 on the eve of closure. Source: William Whitehead

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Sacriston Colliery in the 80s. Credit: Des & Andy Kelly, no reuse without permission.

Sacriston Colliery in the 80s. Credit: Des & Andy Kelly, no reuse without permission.

Historic Environment Records

Durham/Northumberland: Keys to the Past

Tyne and Wear: Sitelines

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HER information as described above is reproduced under the basis the resource is free of charge for education use. It is not altered unless there are grammatical errors. 

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