Location of Colliery - South Pelaw - 6 miles NNW of Durham
Seams Worked
In 1914 the B***y, Harvey and Maudlin
In 1930 the B***y
In 1950 the B***y, Five Quarter and Main
In 1960 the B***y, Five Quarter and Low Main
Brief History
The place South Pelaw is really an extension of Chester-le-Street and it is not certain how it got its name. However an extract from the book, History, Topography and Dire
ctory of The County Palatine of Durham, dated 1894 by Francis Whellan states the following:
Pelaw, listed within Fatfield Parish, is an estate which, as early as 1360, belonged to John De Pelawe, who some years later sold it to the Elmedens, with whom it remained till the middle of the 16th century, after which it became the property of Sir Bertram Bulmer by marriage. Sir Bertram sold it in four parcels and in 1726 it was held by Francis Carr, who devised it to the Carr’s and Millbank’s. A map from 1860 shows the following named abodes all slightly North of the current Blind Lane and which would have been in the Fatfield Parish: Pelaw Farm, Pelaw House and Pelaw Cottage. If this area was Pelaw then it is fairly simple to deduce, how South Pelaw being been near to and south of this area got its name. With regards to mining operations there is a reference in the book History and Antiquities of the County Palatine of Durham 1820 by Robert Surtees which states that the Flatts, a large brick house with enclosures to the East of Pelton, was a seat of a branch of the Allan family of Grange. The Allan family can be described as one of the “incomers” to Chester-le-Street who came to exploit the coal here. The family were originally from Staffordshire and settled in County Durham in the middle of the 17th century when George Allan became established at Blackwell Grange near Darlington. His eldest son Thomas (1631-1717) acquired the Flatts near Chester-le-Street and made a fortune from combining the coal and cattle trades. One means by which Thomas Allan promoted the good of the County was by developing and using a waggonway from Flatts Colliery to the North bank of the Wear. This was an important route, long known as “Allans Waggonway” connecting to the staiths at Fatfield and opening in about 1693. Many years later the Perkins family started operations here in 1860, when sinking a 65 fathom shaft, later in 1890-1, a new sinking to the B***y was made, for Thomas Gilchrist; the upper level seams remained unworked. The South Pelaw Coal Company operated the pit until finally the NCB took over in 1947. Colliery Owners
1860s Perkins & Co
1880s E.M. Perkins & Partners
1890s South Pelaw Coal Co. Ltd.
1947 National Coal Board
Year Opened /Sunk
An exact date of when the colliery opened is unclear although evidence shows that operations of some sort started in 1860 but also that South Pelaw Colliery was restarted 1890 and sunk to the B***y Seam. This suggests it may have closed before 1890. However the following newspaper article also suggests that the colliery was open as early as 1845:
