COAL MINING IN THE GAUNLESS VALLEY

A SUMMARY OF THE BRANCH LINES, SIDINGS, COLLIERY & COKE WORKS INCLINES AND TRAMWAYS

The following collieries and drift mines represent those which were served by tramways and inclines leading to one of the two railway lines running through the Gaunless Valley.  Further details such as ownership, years of operation and employment can be found on this website by clicking on the specific colliery.  There were many independently run, small scale private enterprises working the coal seams throughout the district and details will be provided in due course.  We acknowledge the Durham Mining Museum as the main source of information. 

Collieries and drift mines located along the Haggerleases Branch, later known as the Butterknowle Branch:

  • The Randolph Incline, Evenwood, initially served Evenwood Colliery (Thrushwood) and Tees Hetton Colliery prior to reaching Randolph Colliery and Coke Works.
  • West Tees/Railey Fell Colliery, Ramshaw.  The tramways went westwards to Lands Colliery at Fletcher Hill and northwards to various drift mines on Railey Fell.
  • Old Norwood Colliery, east of High Lands was served by the Isabella Railway which linked into the new Norwood Colliery and coke ovens and sidings, north of the branch line.  Later, 2 tramways served drifts to the northwest and southeast of Norwood Colliery.
  • Evenwood Colliery, probably sunk 1850, to the south of the River Gaunless was linked to Norwood Colliery sidings by 2 tramways.
  • Craggwood Colliery, later know as Storey Lodge Colliery, was served by a tramway which went southwards over the Gaunless to drifts mines, to the west of Cragg Wood.
  • Lands Colliery to the west of High Lands appears to have been linked by a tramway.
  • Cockfield Quarries on Cockfield Fell operated by R. Summerson & Co., were served by tramways which linked into “the bricker” as it was known locally, where the stone blocks were broken up into manageable sizes.  The “whinstone” was used for road stone and cobbles.
  • Gordon House Colliery (both workings) were linked by a tramway to the colliery coal screens and sidings in the valley bottom.  There was a bridge to cross Cockfield Quarry.
  • North End Collieries, located on Cockfield Fell in the vicinity of the earlier pit called Dean Colliery – there appears to have been 2 workings, served by a tramway.
  • Millfield Grange Colliery and Coke Ovens, located on Cockfield Fell, were linked to sidings by a tramway.
  • Holly Moor Colliery, located on Cockfield Fell, was linked by a tramway to the branch line.
  • New Morley Colliery was located to the north of the Gaunless and served by a tramway.
  • East Butterknowle Colliery, Jane Pit and beehive coke ovens was to the immediate north of the branch line.
  • Low Butterknowle Colliery (not the private drift mine of the same name) and a second colliery, (name unknown due to lack of research), near Abbott’s House appear to have been served by a tramway.
  • Butterknowle Colliery, coke ovens and drift mines at Marsfield, Quarryburn and Wham together with Quarry Drift and Diamond Pit operated by various companies, were all served by tramways which linked into the Haggerleases Station, later known as the Butterknowle Goods Yard.
  • Copley Colliery and Smout Pit, located further to the south were served by a tramway which passed by the Slack before entering Haggerleases Station.

Collieries and drift mines located along the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway, later known as the Bishop Auckland to Barnard Castle Branch:

  • Carterthorne Colliery and West Carterthorne Colliery located to the north of Ramshaw and west of Toft Hill, were served by tramways which struck off from the railway to the east of Evenwood Station.
  • Woodland Colliery, Crake Scar Colliery and coke ovens were served by the Woodland Railway 1876-1921, which struck off east of the Gaunless Viaduct (also known as the Lands or the Cockfield Viaduct).  The line meandered about 4½ miles to the north west before reaching its destination at Woodland Colliery.  This colliery was served by 2 tramways:
  • Woolly Hills tramway to the west on Woodland Fell.
  • Cowley and Arn Gill Collieries tramway to the south.
  • New Copley Colliery, John Pit and Coke Works, to the west of Cockfield fell was served by a tramway which struck off to the west of Cockfield Fell Station.  S4: Arnghyll Colliery, worked by the N.C.B. between about 1947 and 1951 was served by an aerial flight which linked into the railway at Langleydale.

Other collieries and drift mines in the Gaunless Valley:

  • White House Colliery, located to the west of Woolly Hills, on the Woodland to Eggleston road, is the most westerly colliery on the Durham Coalfield. It was not served by railways in the Gaunless Valley.  It is presumed that it used horse transport then motor vehicles to move coal to market.
  •  Stonechester Collieries, located west of Toft Hill, used tramways to connect various workings but it was not served by railways in the Gaunless Valley.  It is presumed that it used horse transport then motor vehicles to move coal to market.
  • Old Carterthorne Colliery, to the north west of Toft Hill was served by a tramway which seems to have linked into a coal yard north of Phoenix Row and presumably onwards to sidings associated with Witton Park and Escomb collieries. (H. Stobart & Co. Ltd.)  

THE HAGGERLEASES BRANCH 1825-1968: SOME DATES                                   

OPENING

  • 27 September 1825: Witton Park – Stockton (25½ miles) Darlington Branch (½ mile) & the first ½ mile of the Hagger Leases branch.
  • 1827: 16 November: decision taken to continue works on the Haggerleases Branch.
  • 1829: September – the first bridge over the River Gaunless (east end) was finished.
  • 1830: 1 May: opened as far as Cockfield Fell
  • 1830: 2 October: opened to terminus at Haggerleases Lane (5 miles).
  • Mileposts every ¼ mile on the north side of the track and Parish Boundary markers, one survives near the Skew Bridge.
  • 1830-1865: Haggerleases Branch, horses were used then replaced by steam locomotives when the Tunnel Branch was opened. 
  • 1865: The track was strengthened and doubled as far as Norwood Colliery.
  • 1858-1872: Passenger service to Lands.
  • 1862/63: Gaunless Viaduct constructed for the South Durham & Lancashire Union Railway (SD&LUR)
  • 1863: North Eastern Railway (NER) Formed
  • 1863: SD&LUR fully opened 1 August, later named the Bishop Auckland to Barnard Castle line.
  • 1899: Haggerleases renamed the Butterknowle Branch.
  • 1899-1905: SD&LU, work began on the second line which necessitated strengthening and repair of the Gaunless Viaduct.
  • 1923: London North Eastern Railway (LNER) Formed
  • 1948 1 January: Nationalisation – British Rail

CLOSURE

  • 30 SEPTEMBER 1963: EVENWOOD – BUTTERKNOWLE
  • AUGUST 1968: TUNNEL JUNCTION – EVENWOOD (From the Randolph Incline which served Randolph Coke Works)
  • 1966: Gaunless Viaduct span removed and middle sets of brick piers removed brick by brick
  • 1968: Third pair of piers was unsafe and blown up.

COAL MINING EMPLOYMENT IN THE GAUNLESS VALLEY [1]

In 2025, the coal industry in the Gaunless Valley is but a distant memory. King Coal has departed after a 700-year reign.  The following work is a brief summary of coal mining activity in the district.

PRE-1825

It is known that coal mining has taken place in the Gaunless Valley since the mid-14th Century but, apparently, never on a significant scale.  Softley, Cockfield, Evenwood, Railey Fell, Copley, Caldhurst, Carterthorne, Grewburn, Etherley are all locations were leases were granted.  Coal mining appears to have been for local, household use until the Earl of Strathmore and the Rev. Luke Prattman saw a commercial opportunity to develop their interests at Evenwood and Copley.  They petitioning against the Stockton and Darlington Railway Bill of 1823, to make sure that the Company lay down the Evenwood Branch so that coals from their Norwood and Copley Collieries could be transported by rail to Stockton-on-Tees and beyond. 

Evidence of the pre-1825 coal workings in the Gaunless Valley is given below:

  • 1714: a lease was granted for the working of Carterthorne Colliery.  The specific location is unknown.
  • 1725:  Lord Harley in his memoir, “Journeys through England” commented on the, “teams of packhorses all along his route from Darlington to Bishop Auckland”.
  • 1748: The act for the toll road from Bowes to Sunderland Bridge was passed.  The route passed by Evenwood Gate on its way to modern day, Croxdale, now the A688 road.
  • 1751:  The act for toll road from Darlington the Red House at Etherley was passed.  It was called, “The Coal Road”. (the A68)
  • 1753: Pits at Lynburne, Rowntree and Butterknowle[2]
  • 1765: West Auckland borings (Thomas Rawlings).
  • 1767: George Dixon attempted to persuade the Duke of Cleveland that a canal from Winston to Stockton-on-Tees would assist in conveying coal from his pits on Cockfield Fell to the port at Stockton.
  • 1768: Stockton to Darlington to Winston canal proposals.  Coal pits were indicated on the plan north west of Cockfield, north west of Evenwood (Norwood Colliery), north of Etherley and Toft Hill (Phoenix Pit) and north of West Auckland and St. Helen’s Auckland (Eden & Musgrave interests). 
  • 1769: George Dixon excavated a short length of canal on Cockfield Fell but even this failed to persuade the Duke.
  • 1781:  John Flintoff agreed to work the several collieries called Railey Fell and also Bitchburn and Brusselton Collieries.  Etherley and Railey Fell Collieries worked continuously through to 1811.  A further agreement allowed him to work Railey Fell and Etherley Collieries to 1826.
  • 1781:  George Dixon and Partners worked the Lands Pit at Bunker Hill Colliery (exact location unknown).  They were in dispute with John Flintoff who was the working Sand Pit and Bolton Pit in near vicinity – the location of these pits is unknown.
  • 1787:  George Dixon and Partners worked a colliery near Greenfield Colliery belonging to Sir John Eden.
  • 1796:  Norwood Colliery (east of modern day High Lands) was worked by Messrs. George and John Dixon and John Flintoff on land owned by the Earl of Strathmore.  There were a number of pits and drifts, some of which are named on the working plan such as Lane Side Pit, East Field Pit, Quick Hedge Pit and Dyke Pit.   This colliery was indicated on the plan submitted to the Quarter Sessions prior to the Bill being submitted to Parliament.
  • c.1800, An undated plan, “An eye plan of the collieries, roads and country from Esperley Lane and Cockfield Fell westward to Langleydale head including Barnard Castle Moor and part of Woodland Common by John Greenwell” shows, among other details, Norwood pitt, Longstaff’s Pitts, Lord Vane’s or Lunton Hill pitts, Lord Darlington’s pitts, intended pitts on Woodland Common, Lord Vane’s pitts (south of West Pitts ie Woodland), Lead Mill and an intended canal from Dent Gate to Broom Bank, west of Raby Castle.
  • 1803: Norwood Colliery, a sketch map shows Engine Pit, Hedge Pit, Doghole Pit and 2 old pits.
  • 1804: Norwood and Ramshaw Collieries were leased to the Earl of Strathmore.  A report prepared by William Stobart for the Bishop of Durham stated that the Norwood workings were “difficult and troublesome” and that devices were needed to drain water if further extensive mining was to be carried out.
  • 1811:  Pierse “perambulates” the boundaries of Railey Fell.
  • c.1821: an undated map in the Strathmore Collection shows 3 estates in the Evenwood area.  Numerous pits are identified on these estates.  The Gordon Estate belonging to John Trotter had 6 pits including Hodgson’s, Jackson’s, Healey and Gordon Pit; the Ramshaw Estate belonging to Thomas Humphries had 14 pits including Mary and Ramshaw Engine Pit and the Evenwood Park Estate, belonging to the Trustees of the late Earl of Strathmore (who died in 1820), had 24 pits including Isabella, North, Tube, Nook, Birch Tree, Bowes, William, Duke, Crow Coal and the Norwood Engine Pit. 
  • 1821:  Borings at Thrushwood.
  • 1823: Norwood, Butterknowle and Copley Bent pits were working.
  • 1826: Old Butterknowle Colliery, a steam engine was installed to pump water out of the pit.
  • 1827: Norwood Colliery advertised to let together with 2000 acres of coalfield.

Regardless of this activity, the employment created by coal mining was still low.  A description of the Auckland Coalfield provided by Joseph Lawson of St. Helen’s Auckland in about 1840 stated that the district extended westwards from Coundon to Butterknowle Colliery, a distance of 10 miles, about 70 square miles and that within the last 20 years considerably under 100 coal workers were engaged in the district. 

1830- 1872:  THE RAILWAY ARRIVES

Below is a list of dates giving an indication of the development of coal mining in the Gaunless Valley during the first 40+ years of “industrialisation”:

  • February 1830: St. Helen’s Colliery sinking began.
  • May 1830:  The Haggerleases Branch was opened to Cockfield Fell.
  • October 1830:  The branch line was opened to is terminus at Haggerleases Lane.  A goods yard was located there and a new mill was built.  Coal wagons were hauled along the tracks by horses until 1856.  Close to the railway, new coal mines, either shafts or drifts, were sunk.
  • 1832:  Thrushwood sinking commenced.
  • 1833:  Evenwood and Storey Lodge (near an existing drift) borings.
  • 1834:  Providence Pit, Gordon Gill sunk.
  • 1834 October: Gordon Colliery won.
  • 1835: Evenwood Colliery – this pit was later known as Thrushwood.  Possibly at this time, the new Norwood Colliery was sunk.  This colliery was located to the immediate north of the Haggerleases Branch.  The old Norwood Colliery, known as the Isabella Pit, was linked by a tramway known as the Isabella Railway, to sidings and a bank of coke ovens (possibly cinder rows) at the new Norwood Colliery.  Also, another, new Evenwood Colliery is indicated on Bell’s map of 1852 which is located south of Norwood Colliery and it was also linked to the railway at Norwood Colliery via 2 tramways.
  • 1835: Diamond Pit, Butterknowle sunk.
  • 1837:  Butterknowle and Copley Collieries won by Messrs. Dowson & Co.
  • 1838: West Auckland Colliery was won.
  • 1843: There was a serious industrial dispute on the Durham coalfield.  It lasted from November 1843 to July 1844 at Evenwood Colliery, on the estate of John Bowes MP of Streatlam Castle.  This colliery employed 350 men and boys at the time.
  • 1844: Cragg Wood Colliery was won and started to pay rent.  It was later known as Storey Lodge Colliery.
  • 1846: The tithe map shows the Thrushwood wagonway to a pit, later known as Tees Hetton Colliery which was owned by Durham County Coal Co.
  • 1846:  The tithe map shows a wagonway along Gordon Gill to a pit owned by John Bowes.
  • 1846:  Cow Close Colliery and High Copley Air Pit borings.
  • 1847: A report prepared by Nicholas Wood for the Bishop of Durham to the Trustees of the late Earl of Strathmore and John Bowes Esq. examined the Norwood and Evenwood Collieries.  Rents appertaining to Norwood Colliery dating back to 1833 had been paid. 
  • 1848: Evenwood and Gordon Collieries for sale.
  • 1849: Court case, Humphries v Durham County Coal Co.  regarding subsidence.  Thomas Humphries won his case and was awarded damages.
  • 1850: Bell’s Map shows Evenwood Colliery (Thrushwood), Little Gordon Colliery and Gordon Colliery, Carterthorne Colliery unconnected to the railway to the north; Norwood Colliery, Old Norwood Colliery, Storey Lodge Colliery, Lands Colliery, West Tees Colliery and Victoria Coke Ovens along the Haggerleases Branch.
  • 1851: East Butterknowle Colliery (Jane Pit), 8 beehive ovens were built.
  • 1854:   East Butterknowle Colliery extended to provide 33 beehive coke ovens.
  • 1854: 9th September, the Stockton and Darlington Times, provided the following account of the Haggerleases Railway:

“The drivers of these “dandies” deserve a word for the agility they display in taking the sidings.  They leap off their seat in front and by running to the siding and turning it in an instant with a “switch” they are ready to jump on again when the dandy comes up, the horse in the meantime not in the least slackening his pace.  They also discard such useless appendages as reins and control the horse to admiration by shouting at the top of their voices.”

“A short ride brings us into the midst of collieries.  Shafts are seen on all sides and the distant rattle of the coal as it falls into the wagons, comes sailing on the wings of the wind from all directions…In some instances, the coal is brought from the pit down an inclined tramway in the same tubs which are filled by the miners, to the depot, where wagons are filled.  These wagons either convey it to the coke ovens or further down the railway for transit…The atmosphere near these mines is impregnated with smoke and the sensation to a stranger is very uncomfortable and chokey from the great quantity of black dust which fills the air.  This notwithstanding, many of the inhabitants are remarkably robust and live to a good age.  We can vouch that many of the lads and lasses look charming.”

  • 1856:  13 September, the Tunnel Branch was opened which allowed steam locomotives to relieve the horses of their arduous task when it linked the Haggerleases Branch with Bishop Auckland and beyond.   
  • Pre 1857: Woodland and Crake Scar Colliery on the Duke of Cleveland’s West Pitts Royalty were both working but the exact date of sinking is unknown.
  • 1866: New Copley Colliery borings.
  • 1868: New Copley Colliery Jane Pit sunk.

1868:  Despite the setbacks of 1843-44 industrial dispute, the Durham pitmen formed the Durham Miners’ Association.

1870:  Only 2 collieries in the Gaunless Valley district had union membership:

  • 33 at Norwood Colliery
  • 63 at Evenwood Colliery
  • 96 in total

1872: Within 2 years, another 4 collieries in the district had union membership which had increased to 610.

  • 120 Butterknowle
  •   90 Carterthorne
  • 140 Evenwood
  •   60 Lands (Cockfield Fell)
  • 100 Norwood
  • 100 Railey Fell
  • 610 Total

Prior to 1820, there were less than 100 workers on the Auckland Coalfield.  During the following period up to 1872, the total number of miners is unknown.  By 1870, union activity had entered the district and by 1872, members from Evenwood, Norwood, Butterknowle, Carterthorne, Lands and Railey Fell increased the total to 610.   The district was remote from the larger coal producing areas of County Durham, communication was slow, education was very limited, enterprises were small scale and coal owners would have been anti-union so it is difficult to imagine in these smaller pits, there being much commitment to forming a union, although the need and desire may well have been present. From 1841, it is possible to use details from the annual census to calculate the number of miners working in an area but this task has not been undertaken.   

1872 – 1918

The period 1872 to 1918 saw an increase in the demand for coal nationally for industry and, in the later period, for the war effort.  Accordingly, the need for miners rose and the population of the Gaunless Valley increased. 

1896:  The HM Inspector’s report for the Durham District provides details.  In total there were 22 mines, employing 2495 miners, the big 4 companies employed 2299 men, about 92%:

  • North Bitchburn Coal Co. Ltd employed most men, totalling 937 (Randolph Colliery, Evenwood 449; Gordon House, Cockfield 328 & Storey Lodge 160. Evenwood Colliery was “standing”).
  • Woodland Collieries Co. Ltd. employed 593 men – New Copley Colliery 228, Woodland 176, Crake Scar 174 and Cow Close 15
  • Butterknowle Colliery Co. Ltd. employed 528 men – Quarry Pit (2 pits) 282, Wham 131, Hutton Seam Drift 94, Diamond Pit 18 and Gordon pumping station 3. 
  • Henry Stobart and Co. Ltd. employed 214 men at Railey Fell 201 and Morley Green 13.  Lands Colliery was “standing.”  At this time, this company’s major concerns were at Etherley George Pit and Jane Pit at Escomb and Witton Park.

Nine concerns employed less than 50 miners.

In 1906, an important court case, Bishop Auckland Co-op v Butterknowle Colliery Co. Ltd., delivered a verdict which affected the lives of many miners.  It went to the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the House of Lords.  The case related to the issue of mining subsidence.  The verdict favoured the Co-operative Society, the colliery company was deemed culpable for subsidence and had to pay compensation.  The consequence was that the colliery company went into liquidation and about 500 men lost their jobs.  In 1910, Messrs. Chipchase and Wood took over the assets and formed the New Butterknowle Colliery which operated for about 5 years.  It is likely that a small number of men would have found work at the re-opened colliery. 

In 1912, there was an industrial dispute and the DMA called for a ballot for strike action.  The Auckland and County Chronicle published the results.  In the Gaunless Valley district, only the 4 major collieries were unionised.  1023 votes cast. 

  • 533 Randolph
  • 350 Gordon House
  •   38 Carterthorne
  • 102 New Copley
  • 1023 Total

If we assume that the total membership was slightly higher, say 1050 and if we assume that this figure represents 92% of the mining workforce (as it did in 1896) then an estimate for the whole Gaunless Valley district would be about 1140 men.  This represents about a 50% reduction from the 1896 figure, a significant proportion of which can be traced back to the closure of the Butterknowle Colliery in 1906.  Caution – this is an estimate only! 

1914 saw a significant increase in the mining workforce.   The 15 collieries working in the district employed 3404 men.  Given that the outbreak of the First World War took place, there was an urgent need for an increase in armaments, accordingly the iron and steel industries and coal was the source of power then this increase is understandable.  The North Bitchburn Coal Co. Ltd remained the largest employer with its 2 collieries at Randolph (Evenwood) and Gordon House (Cockfield) providing a combined total of 1875 men (1039 and 836 respectively).  The Woodland Collieries at Crake Scar, Woodland and New Copley totalled 834 men (48, 494 and 292).  H. Stobart & Co. Ltd. had 250 men at Railey Fell Colliery.  H.J. Mein had 165 men at Carterthorne.  Eight concerns employed less than 50.

It is probable that the overall number increased as demand for coal rose during the war years until 1918 but this assumption has to be “tempered” with the demand for men required for war service.  Coal mining was a “reserved occupation” but nevertheless in 1918, ballots took place at the pithead in order to secure new recruits.  This matter has not yet been researched.

1918 – 1939

After the war, there was a brief increase in demand for coal but this soon disappeared.  In 1921 there were 40 collieries working in the Gaunless Valley district employing 3157 miners.  The largest companies were:

  • North Bitchburn Coal Co. Ltd which employed a total of 1800 men at Randolph (Evenwood) 952 and Gordon House (Cockfield) Collieries 848.
  • Cargo Fleet Iron Co. Ltd. which employed a total of men at 494 Woodland.
  • H. Stobart & Co. Ltd., which employed 278 men at West Tees/ Railey Fell.
  • Carterthorne Colliery Co. Ltd which employed 267 at its drift mines.

There were 33 concerns which employed 25 men or fewer.

Rationalisation of the coal industry was taking place.  For instance:

  • The Woodland Railway closed in 1921 and by 1924, the brockwell seam was abandoned at Woodland Colliery.  The major coal mining company in the upper Gaunless Valley had closed. 
  • Further east, the Carterthorne Colliery Co. Ltd. ended its association with the area in 1927 when the Brockwell Drift was abandoned. 

Two of the major employers ceased to exist. 

Of the other two:

  • Since 1923, H. Stobart & Co. Ltd., had been tied up with the North Bitchburn Coal Co. Ltd., with Sir A.F. Pease chairman of the company, W.H. Hustler, R.J. Mounsey, Lord Gainford, Sir J.B. Dale and 5 other members of the Pease family on the Board of Directors.
  • In 1927, the North Bitchburn Coal Co. Ltd was taken over by Pease & Partners Ltd. and was closed for a period sometime later, the exact dates have not been researched.  In 1933, the Summerson brothers of Cockfield bought out the Randolph and Gordon House Collieries to form the Randolph Coal Co. Ltd. This company worked alongside, but independently, from their other coal mining interests such as the Ramshaw Coal Co. Ltd. 

By 1934, there were 31 collieries working in the Gaunless Valley employing 1150 miners.  The largest companies were:

  • Pease & Partners Ltd. (formerly the North Bitchburn Coal Co. Ltd.) employed a total of 577 men at Randolph (Evenwood) and Gordon House (Cockfield) Collieries, a reduction of 1223 men from 1914.  
  • H. Stobart & Co. Ltd. employed 187 men at West Tees/Railey Fell colliery, a reduction of 91.
  • H. Lowson Ltd. which employed 118 men at its 2 New Morley drift mines.  This was a new concern and it is believed that it took over leases previously granted to H. Stobart & Co. Ltd.
  • Ramshaw Coal Co. Ltd. employed 99 at its 3 collieries.  This was a new concern operated by the Summerson brothers.

There were 20 concerns which employed 25 men or fewer.  The industry, in terms of number of men employed, (1150) had been reduced by 2/3rds since 1921.

By 1938, there were 9 collieries working in the Gaunless Valley employing about 700 miners.  The largest companies were:

  • Randolph Coal Co. Ltd. which in 1940 employed a total of men 472 at Randolph (Evenwood) and Gordon House (Cockfield) Collieries.
  • H. Stobart & Co. Ltd., which in 1935 employed 198 men at West Tees/Railey Fell colliery.  It closed in 1939.
  • Ramshaw Coal Co. Ltd. which in 1940 employed 153 at its 4 collieries.

There were 6 concerns which employed 25 men or fewer.

As can be seen during the inter-war period, 1921 to 1938, the coal industry contracted hugely in the Gaunless Valley both in terms of number of collieries and the numbers of men employed.  By 1938, there were only 15 places of work, compared with 40 in 1921.  Employment fell from about 3157 to 700, a reduction of 78% of the workforce.  Randolph Colliery at Evenwood remained the only significant employer.

1947 – 1968 NATIONALISATION

On nationalisation, vesting day 1 April 1947, 4 pits were incorporated into the National Coal Board (NCB) Durham Division No.4 South West Durham Area.  The Group Manager was Henry Holt, formerly the colliery manager at Randolph.  The collieries were:

  • The Ramshaw Coal Co. Ltd had 186 men working at their 2 pits at Ramshaw and Ramshaw No.1.
  • The Randolph Coal Co. Ltd had 493 men working at Randolph and Gordon House Collieries.

At this time, a total of 679 men worked at these 4 collieries. 

The NCB invested in this part of south west Durham by:

  • Re-opening the Arngill and Cowley Colliery workings south of Woodland,
  • Sinking new workings at Moor Hill, (south of Hamsterley), the Hutton Drift at Randolph Colliery (in 1953), the Esperley Lane Drift near Cockfield and the Staindropfieldhouse Drift along the West Auckland to Evenwood Gate road.
  • Building a new washery plant in 1956 at West Auckland alongside the Butterknowle Branch next to West Auckland Colliery, now worked by a drift mine. 
  • Establishing pumping stations and providing equipment at mines to drain the underground workings.

By 1959, the NCB coal mining operations, including West Auckland and Staindropfield House drift mines, employed 822 miners.  An estimated 60 men were employed at 5 private licensed mines. 

Workings at Arngill were abandoned in 1951, the collieries at Ramshaw were closed in 1958 and 1959, Randolph and Gordon House Collieries were closed in 1960 and 1961, Moor Hill drift mine was abandoned in 1961, the drift mines at Randolph Hutton and Esperley Lane were closed in 1962, the drifts at Staindropfieldhouse and West Auckland and West Auckland Washery were closed in 1967. At the Randolph Hutton drift mine 76 men were affected.  The two drift mines at Staindropfieldhouse and West Auckland employed 360 men. 

The men either accepted redundancy, alternative employment at Brusselton Colliery which closed in 1968 or elsewhere on the Durham Coalfield.  Some took advantage of the NCB Resettlement Scheme and moved to collieries at other coalfields in search of secure employment such as Kellingley, South Yorkshire, Calverton, Nottinghamshire and Coventry, Staffordshire. 

There were 4 private mines working under licence at Ramshaw, Cockfield, Low Butterknowle and West Auckland which employed less than an estimated 50 men.  The last of these small workings to close was the Low Butterknowle drift mine which closed in 1968.

Since 1968, private enterprises have operated in the Gaunless Valley, notably:

  1. Post 1968, there was another small private licensed drift mine – Norwood Colliery was opened up by Peter Wardle and others in the late 1970s and closed shortly after the 1984 Miners’ Strike.
  2. The Randolph Coke and Chemical Co Ltd., (1948-1984) operated a coking plant on the site of the Randolph Colliery, Evenwood as a private venture.  New coke ovens were built in 1948 and extended in 1958.  Although, the works closed in September 1968 for a month, it re-opened under new management.  There were a number of take-overs and it survived until 25 May 1984.  When Randolph coke works finally closed, under the management of Coalite PLC, 132 men were made redundant. (check). 
  3. Opencast coalmining operations have taken place extensively in the district since the late 1950s and into the early 2000s.  Extraction has taken place under the authority of the NCB (and under its later name of British Coal) by specialist contractors and by private operators working under licence on the smaller sites.  In July 2002, the High Gordon opencast site, north of Evenwood and west of Ramshaw was undergoing restoration, a task delayed by poor weather during 2000 and the “Foot & Mouth” outbreak of 2001.  This was the last opencast site to be worked in the district.  

[1] For the purposes of this research, the Gaunless Valley is taken as that area between Spring Gardens and the upper reaches above Woodland.  The district of Woodhouses, St. Helen’s, West Auckland, Brusselton and of Witton Park and Escomb are excluded but relevant dates/facts will be mentioned. 

[2] Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections. Durham Bishopric Halmote Court Records: Court and miscellaneous books.  DHC11/VI/57a   1814 Plan of Railey Fell Boundary as taken by Richard Richardson in 1753 with grounds adjoining at West Auckland etc.