Waterhouses Colliery developed from the 1850s, and became a fully fledged working by the 1860s. It was a huge undertaking, as this site was very much in the rurality with no infrastructure and only farms. The sustainable water source and the proximity to the North Eastern Railway made it an attractive proposition to extract coal - they just needed the population and the housing to go with it.

The working was huge, with the Mary Pit the mothership of a vast series of drifts both north and south of the working. They were all connected by a series of tramways both on overhead timber bridges as well as short tunnels under housing. The site featured 2 lines of coke ovens totalling 200, as the predominant reason for extraction was for both coking and manufacturing purposes. By the turn of the 20th century 500 people were working here, with all of them living right next door.

It was first owned by Joseph Pease, and man doused in industrial prowess from the Stockton & Darlington to his vast portfolio of pits, ironstone mines, quarries and staiths across Durham, North Yorkshire and Middlesbrough. I imagine this was one of his most northern ventures. It remained under the Pease company until nationalisation and remained operating until 1966.