Marley Hill Colliery

A comment by a recent visitor led to me checking the shaft caps at Marley Hill Colliery.

Marley Hill downcast shaft cap - the obvious one at the top of the hill above the shed
As a reference, the top of the jib of the crane at the west end of the yard is mid right

Following the Hartley Colliery disaster of 1862, every pit had to have two shafts:

Both pit heads of Marley Hill Colliery are shown

I can't recall seeing the upcast shaft in the 1970s, but by then both the Tanfield Branch & Marley Hill section of the Bowes Railway were closed - coal from Marley Hill Colliery was being taken out underground via Clockburn Drift.   But where is the upcast shaft cap?

I found the cap on the upcast shaft to the north east & at a lower level - see above photo
Note however, that there are two adjacent concrete caps, indicating adjoining shafts

This photo is said to be of Marley Hill
- the teeming shed looks similarly positioned
- & there are two adjacent winders

The adjacent shafts may be due to the fact that Marley Hill Colliery was opened in the early 1700s - with output going down the Tanfield Waggonway - but closed in 1815.   MH Colliery was reopened in 1841 by John Bowes & Partners to feed the expanding coke market, with most output going down the extension of the Pontop & Jarrow Railway from 1854.

More information on Marley Hill Colliery on the Durham Mining Museum web.