Dinnington Colliery

Dinnington Colliery was opened by John Bowes & Partners Ltd in 1867. Sold to the Seaton Burn Coal Company in 1899 and closed on 26th February 1960. The British Geological Survey marks the sites of West, Hester and Augusta shafts. The colliery was linked by a spur line (HER ref. 1087) to the former Brunton and Shields/Fawdon wagonway (HER ref. 1078). A Brickworks was in use within the colliery, near the Augusta mine, from 1908. In 1922 the brickyard had a 26 chamber Belgian kiln, each chamber holding 6,500 bricks. Hartley Main Collieries took over the brickworks in 1939, and in 1950, in order to increase production, the Belgian kiln was converted to a top fired Hoffman type kiln and the chamber capacity increased to 8,500 bricks. The brickworks closed shortly after Dinnington Colliery in 1960. The colliery village was designed to the standards of a model village, but by 1873 only some houses had ashpits and privies. A number of terraces of the original village survive.