Mainsforth Colliery was sunk in 1872, and after working about four years was laid in, and is still idle. It is leased by the Carlton Iron Company.
Whellan's 1894 Directory of County Durham
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The origins of the Mainsforth colliery date from 1873 when two shafts, the East and the West, were sunk 270ft to the Five Quarter seam. These workings were short-lived and by 1877 the mine was abandoned and the shafts used as a rubbish dump. The exact cause of the mine's demise is not clear and has been attributed both to the slackness in the coal trade due to the end of the Franco-Prussian war and the inundation of the pit by water.
It was not until 23 years later that the site attracted the attention of the Carlton Iron Company who, having acquired the lease, re-excavated the abandoned shafts and de-watered the workings. The company the proceeded to widen and deepen the two shafts. The East pit, which was both the downcast and the coal drawing shaft, was deepened to the Harvey seam where an inset was constructed at 850ft. In anticipation of a return of the previous water problems the shaft was deepened a further 40ft to provide a sump, and when complete this shaft had a finished diameter of 14ft 6 inches.
The West shaft, the upcast, with a finished diameter of 14ft, was also deepened to the Harvey with an inset at 850ft, but in this case the sump was only 15ft deep. From the bottom of this shaft the owners bored down to prove the Busty and Brockwell seams.
Extracts taken from The Collieries of Durham, Volume 2
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More information...
Eric Thompson Watercolours of Ferryhill
Ferryhill Street Map
Durham Mining Museum - Mainsforth Colliery
The Ferryhill and Chilton Chapter - Our Free Newspaper
The North East Forum - Ferryhill Section
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Photograph by Durham Mining Museum.
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