Bearpark Colliery (1872 - 1984)

Bearpark Colliery was sunk in 1872. The Bearpark Coal and Coke Company was directed by Theodore Fry, an Ironmaster and Quaker from Darlington. At it's peak level of employment in 1925, the colliery employed 1,367 (1,049 working below ground, and 318 above ground).[1] Bearpark Colliery closed on the 6th April 1984.

The Bearpark Colliery was sunk in 1872, coal being got the same year. There are three shafts, 1, 2, and 3, the seams worked are the Busty and Hutton, the former being 66 fathoms deep, and the latter about 9 fathoms above it. Coke is made here, and 50 of the ovens are the Simon Carves type, which, with the chemical department, produces benzol oil and ammonia from the coal as by-products, as well as coal-tar. Altogether there are about 1,000 men and boys employed at this colliery.

Bearpark Village is two miles west of Durham, having a station called Aldin Grange, on the Durham and Consett line. This is purely a colliery village, the men and boys being all employed at the colliery. It comprises a good school, two chapels, a literary institute, and a co-operative store. Bearpark Literary Institute, for the workmen of the colliery, is held in rooms allowed by the owners. Every description of newspaper and magazine is provided.

Extract from: History, Topography, and Directory of the County Palatine of Durham. By Whellan, William, & Co, 1894