Eldon Colliery (1829 - 1932)

Eldon Colliery (aka South Durham Colliery) was established to the east of Old Eldon in County Durham. The sinking of it's first pit began on the 20th of August, 1829. The village of Eldon developed when houses were built near the colliery for the miners and their families. In the 1850s it was recorded as being under the ownership of Joseph Pease & Co. By the 1880s it was under the ownership of South Durham Coal Co. By the turn of the century, the colliery and associated coking plant and brickworks employed over 1,000. By 1921, there were 1,973 people employed at the colliery (1,493 working below ground and 480 working on the surface); with 3 pits (John Henry, Harvey, and Harry Pit) and a drift mine (Bank Drift). The colliery closed on the 11th of October, 1932 and then dismantled in 1933-4.[1] Much of the former colliery site has been planted with trees.