New Hartley
New Hartley is a small village in south-east Northumberland, England, near Hartley, Seaton Delaval and Seaton Sluice. It sits off the A190, about 6 miles north of Tynemouth and 4 miles south of Blyth.
The village grew around the Hester coal mine, sunk in 1845 between Seaton Sluice and Seaton Delaval. A rough L-shaped area to the north and west of the pit developed with houses, a Methodist chapel, the Hartley Hastings Arms pub, and New Hartley Workmen’s Club.
The New Hartley Pit Disaster struck on 16 January 1862 when the pumping engine beam broke and 204 miners died. A memorial at St Alban’s Church, Earsdon lists the names and ages of the victims, and a memorial garden near the disaster site marks the tragedy. The event led to a law requiring two mine shafts for future pits.
A housing development called The Brambles was completed in 2008, adding 64 homes. The village has a pub known as the Hartley Hastings (locally called The Haggans), a large Working Men’s Club, a Post Office and a convenience store, and Christmas lights outside the Post Office. There is also a Masonic Hall at Seaton Delaval.
New Hartley football club has produced players such as Ray Kennedy, Michael Bridges, Bobby Cummings and Ron Guthrie. The club focuses on youth and acts as a feeder for Glasgow Rangers.
Transport links include the X7 bus, which runs about every 30 minutes to and from Newcastle (roughly a 50-minute journey). Phoenix operates two weekday services to Cramlington. The Blyth and Tyne Railway passes through the eastern edge of the village, and there have been campaigns to reopen the line and add a Seaton Delaval station, but so far they have not succeeded.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 17:29 (CET).