	Copley Colliery	Index	Copley Colliery

Copley Colliery

Location:	Cockfield 16 miles [25 km] SW of Durham
Map Ref:	(Sheet 92, OL42) NZ087254, 54° 37' 25" N, 1° 51' 55" W
Maps:	1898 map from Reid's Handy Colliery Guide
Opened:
Closed:	20 Mar 1930
Pits:	Smout Pit, locn: (Sheet 92) NZ110250
Owners:	1850s - Prattman's Trustees
	1860s - Trustees of W. Luke Pratman
	1890s - W. Teasdale
	1900s - Laverick, Dowson & Burrell
	1920s - Gargett & Co. (Gargett, Stirk & Heads)
Output:	1860 - Coal.
	1865 - Coal.
	1900 - Coal: Household, Manufacturing.
	1902 - Coal: Household, Manufacturing.
	1905 - Coal: Household, Manufacturing.
	1910 - Coal: Household, Manufacturing.
	1927 - Coal: Household.
	1930 - Coal.
Employment:	1854 - 0 [Working]
	1896 - 8 (7 below, 1 surface)
	1900 - 12 (11 below, 1 surface)
	1902 - 18 (12 below, 6 surface)
	1908 - 9 (7 below, 2 surface)
	1910 - 0 [Abandoned]
	1927 - 2
	1930 - 0 [Abandoned 20/3/30]
Seams Worked:	1905 - B, Ballarat, Harvey, Hutton, Jet
	1910 - Main Coal [Closed, 1909. Abandoned.]
	1927 - Five Quarter
	1930 - Five Quarter [Abandoned 20/3/30]
	Catalogue of plans of abandoned mines for Copley Colliery
Notes:	1911 - Main Coal (Brockwell) seam abandoned
	1913 - Main or Brockwell seam abandoned - coal exhausted
	1929, 21 Dec - Five Quarter seam abandoned

Description

Here [Lynesack and Softley township] are the Butterknowle and Copley Collieries, Craik Scar and West Pits, which, with Land's Collieries, occupy the south western angle of the Durham coalfield, and give employment to the greater portion of the inhabitants. The seams are the "Hutton," four feet thick; the "Harvey," two feet to three feet eight inches ; the "Busty," five feet to six feet, containing a band of sagger of ten inches. The "Brockwell" is the thickest, being six feet. These seams are wrought by both shaft and drifts, which, owing to the great Butterknowle fault, are thrown down a depth of eighty fathoms on the south. In the Butterknowle pits there are nearly 700 men and boys employed.

Butterknowle is the largest village in the parish, and comprises the principal places of business, as well as the colliery. It is about a mile north from Cockfield Railway Station, eight miles west by south from Bishop Auckland, and eight north by east from Barnard Castle. The Bishop Auckland Co-operative Society have erected large stores here, being established since 1885. Copley Lane, Southside, and Wham are hamlets in this township.

The British School at Quarry Lane was originally built by public subscription, but is now supported by the colliery owners. Here accomodation is provided for 80 children.

Miners' Hall – at Butterknowle the miners have a large and well built stone hall, with large room for public entertainments. This hall will seat 450, and is the largest public hall in the district. There is also a reading and a recreation room for the use of the members.

Institute and Library. – The colliery owners have provided their workpeople with a building in which to establish an institute and library. This is now kept up by the members' fees.

Whellan's 1894 Directory of County Durham

Disasters (5 or more killed)

None found.

Names of those killed at this colliery

No names found.

Collieries and Pits within 5 miles (8km)

a simulated map showing the immediate vicinity of Copley Colliery

list of collieries/pits etc. near to Copley Colliery

Credits

Sources:

1854 List of mines by T. Y. Hall, published in Vol II (1853-4) of the Transactions of the North of England Institute of Mining Engineers
1896 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department, also available online at Peak District Mines Historical Society Ltd
1900 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1902 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1905 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1908 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1910 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1927 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
1930 List of Mines - Government report from the Mines Department
History, Topography, and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham by Francis Whellan. Second edition published in 1894.
Mineral Statistics for 1860 (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and of the Museum of Practical Geology), compiled by Robert Hunt, F.R.S.
Mineral Statistics for 1865 (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and of the Museum of Practical Geology), compiled by Robert Hunt, F.R.S.
Mineral Statistics for 1869 (Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and of the Museum of Practical Geology), compiled by Robert Hunt, F.R.S.