The Common Room - Marley Hill Colliery

The records previously held by NEIMME (North of England Institute of Mining & Mechanical Engineers) together with the grade 2* listed Neville Hall at the bottom of Westgate Road, Newcastle, were transferred to the Common Room of the Great North (charity no.1179546) in 2017.   With HLF funding, the Common Room secured the future of Neville Hall & started an online catalogue of NEIMME's records dating back to the 1500s, & digitising these.

Searching the Collections for Marley Hill currently gives 38 results, including:

A document from 1778 looking at the future viability of
Marley Hill Colliery - which was closed in 1815.
In 1700s MH was known as North Banks & worked via several pits.

MH Colliery reopened in 1840, with the sinking of the Lodge Pit shaft
- this 1841 document gives the depths of materials & coal seams
found near the top of the shaft in fathoms, feet & inches (1 fathom is 6 feet)

19th century industrial relations & control

This 1846 HM Customs bill of lading shows the ship Flora of ???? brought grain from
Spalding (River Welland) & returning with 63 tons of coke to Norwich (River Wensum).
It indicates that Marley Hill coke works was using the newly relaid Tanfield Branch.

Photo probably taken not long before the second closure of MH Colliery in 1983.
Coal was taken underground to surface at Clockburn Drift near Derwenthaugh Cokeworks.

Info from Neil Morgan: The above diesel mechanical loco is Hunslet (HE) 0-6-0 works no.1063 delivered new to Clockburn Drift in 1957.   This was the last of five, the first two HE 1947-built locos came 2nd hand from Rothes Colliery in Fife.   They worked the double track 3'6" gauge railway between Marley Hill & Clockburn Drift.   All were cannibalised & scrapped when MH colliery closed.

See more information about Marley Hill Colliery & its several pits (shafts) via:

        Coal Mines UK Group on Facebook

        Durham Mining Museum - Lodge Pit (post 1840 reopening)

        Durham Mining Museum - Shaft Details of Lodge Pit (cf first NEIMME document at top)

        Durham Mining Museum - North Banks (1700s pre 1815 closure)

        Search for Marley Hill Colliery on this TR Blog 

        Durham Records Office, now at The Story