"The coal royalties of this township [Urpeth] are worked by the Birtley Iron Company, who are at present working the Five Quarter, Low Main, and Busty seams at the Busty pit. The Five Quarter is 27 fathoms deep and 3 feet thick ; the Low Main varies from 2 feet 10 inches to 3 feet 9 inches, and is 37 fathoms ; the Busty, 115 fathoms, is 5 feet thick. There are 300 men and boys employed, including those at the coke ovens, where a large quantuty of the output, 470 tons per day, is converted into coke. At the C pit the Hutton seam is wrought at a depth of 65 fathoms ; the Low Main is also working here. This pit, which employs 350 men, has a daily yield of 450 tons, and is extensively lighted by electricity."

Whellan's 1894 Directory of County Durham (via Durham Mining Museum)