NEHL - South Hetton Colliery is one of the oldest collieries in the Sunderland coalfields, sunk in 1833 with the railway being built at the same time. The work itself started in 1831. The pit originally used corves to draw the coals and bring to the surface, though eventually gave way to cages and was the first in Durham to use this more modern method.

One of the largest steam engines in the world at that time was erected here to pump water out of the pit and a depth of 876ft, to throw up up to 60,000 gallons of water per hour at a rate of 300 horses. It did not stop disaster happening fairly quickly though, as a terrible fire started in the No.1 Engine House in 1836. This originated from the hemp rope, which consumed the timber building within minutes. The fire was said to have been seen from Durham and the Newcastle road, which left the machinery and engine destroyed, as well as pitmen without employment for some time.

The pit itself instigated the growth of South Hetton. The school was built by the colliery in 1840 and accommodated 560 children, and by the 1850s featured 3 separate precincts of terraces divided by the multiple railway lines running through the settlement. There was a lodge and church also by the 1850s, which had expanded to include churches of several congregations, 4 pubs, a miners hall, literary institute and post office by the 1890s.

At its peak in 1910, nearly 2000 people worked here, likely consuming every ounce of life in the village. This wasn't without disagreement, given the 1500 strong strike in the 1890s which rumbled on intermittently for around 3 or 4 years and endorsed by the DMA. This was partly caused by management altering the way into the Main Seam from the north side of the shaft to the south, resulting in the "laying in" of the pit.

The colliery was operated by the South Hetton Co., until nationalisation in 1947. It eventually closed in 1982 after a working life of 150+ years, though remained opened for safety work and access to other workings for a period.