Dawdon & Seaham

27 April 2026

Dawdon and nearby Seaham, on the County Durham coast, remain deeply shaped by their coal-mining heritage. For much of the 20th century, Dawdon Colliery (1907-1991) dominated the local economy and identity, with generations of families connected directly to the pit and the industries that supported it. The mine was sunk to extract coal from seams deep beneath the North Sea, while spoil from the colliery was tipped over nearby Noses Point into the sea itself. Long after the wagons stopped running, fragments of coal continued to wash back onto the shoreline as ‘sea coal’ creating a stark and enduring reminder of the intimate relationship between industry, landscape, and community along the Durham coast.