1. The History
Well documented so just a quick potted history here.
Chatterley Whitfield Colliery is a disused coal mine just outside the Staffordshire village of Chell, close to Stoke-on-Trent. Although coal mining can be traced right back to the 13th century in the Potteries, the first records of coal being mined from Chatterley date back to 1750. By 1838, a colliery had been built. A rail link followed in 1860 and more shafts were gradually sunk. The mine was rocked by a serous fire and explosion in 1881 which killed 24 boys and men. The colliery recovered from the disaster and was flourishing at the turn of the century. Hard times came in the 1920s with the general strike but with mechanism and investment the pit gain began to flourish. In the 1930 it could boast to be the largest mine on the North Staffs coalfield, employing over 4,000 men, while in 1937 it became the first colliery in the UK to produce a million tons of coal in a year.
It was ringed by other pits, each with their own set of pumps, lowering the water level in the whole area. The Hesketh shaft at nearly 2,000 feet was one of the deepest shafts, while the Institute shaft was sunk to a depth of 1,320 feet. The workings themselves extended for approximately 50 miles in total. Chatterley Whitfield’s last days saw it connected to the nearby pit of Wolstanton via a 4-mile underground passageway. Wolstanton with its even deeper 3,000-feet shafts was the last working pit in the area with Chatterley responsible for pumping the water out using its 16 underground pumps which pumped the water into a pond where it was then re-pumped to the boilers and washeries.
In 1947, the mine was nationalised, but the advent of cheap oil supplied in the late 1950s meant coal production declined. Coal drawing stopped at the Institute shaft in 1955. By 1965, annual production had declined to just over 400,00 tonnes and the Middle Pit closed in 1968. In 1974, it was decided Whitfield’s coal could be more easily worked from Wolstanton Colliery and an underground roadway was driven to join the two pits. Subsequently, coal production stopped in March 1977.
It then became Britain’s first underground mining museum. Before any visitors could visit derelict buildings had structural work done to them, underground galleries made safe and mining machinery restored. In 1979, the Chatterley Whitfield Mining Museum opened. It’s reputation soon grew with around 70,000 visitors a year visiting the museum. Visitors descended the 700ft Winstanley shaft to explore a series of workings. More work was done on the site with the spoil heap landscaped to around half of its heigh between 1976 and 1982 as a direct result of the findings of the Aberfan disaster inquiry.
In 1981, Wolstanton Colliery also closed. The pumps were recovered after months of salvage work, after they were finally turned off in May 1984, given the cost of pumping was too high for the museum to cover. As a consequence, the abandoned workings at Wolstanton slowly started to flood and followed by Chatterley’s workings. While the water would take years to rise to Chatterley’s workings, there was another problem: firedamp – when the coal gives off methane, which builds up in pockets under the roof in the mine workings. When the pit was working, its ventilation fans prevent this from happening. Methane levels were being monitored through a pipe in the Hesketh shaft, but when the readings deteriorated so all of the shafts were capped and sealed.
With visitors no longer being able to see the old underground workings, the solution was to build a purpose mining experience, which opened in August, 1986. Typically British Coal would seal shafts of an old colliery by filling them right up to the surface, but to facilitate a new underground tour, British Coal did all they could to help. Instead they used a thick layer of concrete to plug the two shafts well below the surface, allowing the museum to use the tops of the shafts. At the bottom area, the museum built a new mine using some shallow workings and a railway cutting. This new experience survived until the early 1990s, before the museum closed for good in August 1993, with an auction held the following year to sell of all its assets.
Since then, many of the buildings have received listed status. Additionally, a small group of people interested in preserving the site founded The Friends of Chatterley Whitfield in the early 2000s, who have had limited access to the site. In recent years they have offered tours of the site including Heritage Open Days.
2. The Explore
So not the exciting “self-guided” tour that many have done on here. I’d not previously looked round here so the Heritage Open Day Tour seemed like a good idea for a Chatterley virgin like myself. The site is massive and there is a lot of fencing and CCTV to keep unauthorised visitors out. The tour we were taken on was led by two really knowledgeable guys who clearly have a big passion for the site. We got to spend plenty of time walking around most of the site, but as expected, access to the majority of the buildings wasn’t permitted. There’s plenty of reports up on the site where people have gotten into the various buildings. It really is an amazing place so hopefully as much as possible with be saved. They have a few urbexers who they escort off the site when caught. Their main issue is the metal thieves who, to this day, still plague the site and nick stuff.
Anyhow, hopefully this set of pictures will be useful for people who are contemplating a tour of the site. It also gives a different perspective to the one you have with the clandestine visits.
Also in the pleasurable company of @Bikin Glynn and @Down and beyond
3. The Pictures
First up – the canteen and pit baths:
The empty canteen room:
Would have loved a better look round the pithead bath building:
Some fascinating history in the maps room:
Architect’s plans for the pithead baths and canteen:
Shift times:
Into the lamp room building:
Part of the former museum:
Main room:
Battery charger frame:
Abstract:
Former display case:
Area Shaft Building:
The old powerhouse:
Winstanley Headgear:
Well documented so just a quick potted history here.
Chatterley Whitfield Colliery is a disused coal mine just outside the Staffordshire village of Chell, close to Stoke-on-Trent. Although coal mining can be traced right back to the 13th century in the Potteries, the first records of coal being mined from Chatterley date back to 1750. By 1838, a colliery had been built. A rail link followed in 1860 and more shafts were gradually sunk. The mine was rocked by a serous fire and explosion in 1881 which killed 24 boys and men. The colliery recovered from the disaster and was flourishing at the turn of the century. Hard times came in the 1920s with the general strike but with mechanism and investment the pit gain began to flourish. In the 1930 it could boast to be the largest mine on the North Staffs coalfield, employing over 4,000 men, while in 1937 it became the first colliery in the UK to produce a million tons of coal in a year.
It was ringed by other pits, each with their own set of pumps, lowering the water level in the whole area. The Hesketh shaft at nearly 2,000 feet was one of the deepest shafts, while the Institute shaft was sunk to a depth of 1,320 feet. The workings themselves extended for approximately 50 miles in total. Chatterley Whitfield’s last days saw it connected to the nearby pit of Wolstanton via a 4-mile underground passageway. Wolstanton with its even deeper 3,000-feet shafts was the last working pit in the area with Chatterley responsible for pumping the water out using its 16 underground pumps which pumped the water into a pond where it was then re-pumped to the boilers and washeries.
In 1947, the mine was nationalised, but the advent of cheap oil supplied in the late 1950s meant coal production declined. Coal drawing stopped at the Institute shaft in 1955. By 1965, annual production had declined to just over 400,00 tonnes and the Middle Pit closed in 1968. In 1974, it was decided Whitfield’s coal could be more easily worked from Wolstanton Colliery and an underground roadway was driven to join the two pits. Subsequently, coal production stopped in March 1977.
It then became Britain’s first underground mining museum. Before any visitors could visit derelict buildings had structural work done to them, underground galleries made safe and mining machinery restored. In 1979, the Chatterley Whitfield Mining Museum opened. It’s reputation soon grew with around 70,000 visitors a year visiting the museum. Visitors descended the 700ft Winstanley shaft to explore a series of workings. More work was done on the site with the spoil heap landscaped to around half of its heigh between 1976 and 1982 as a direct result of the findings of the Aberfan disaster inquiry.
In 1981, Wolstanton Colliery also closed. The pumps were recovered after months of salvage work, after they were finally turned off in May 1984, given the cost of pumping was too high for the museum to cover. As a consequence, the abandoned workings at Wolstanton slowly started to flood and followed by Chatterley’s workings. While the water would take years to rise to Chatterley’s workings, there was another problem: firedamp – when the coal gives off methane, which builds up in pockets under the roof in the mine workings. When the pit was working, its ventilation fans prevent this from happening. Methane levels were being monitored through a pipe in the Hesketh shaft, but when the readings deteriorated so all of the shafts were capped and sealed.
With visitors no longer being able to see the old underground workings, the solution was to build a purpose mining experience, which opened in August, 1986. Typically British Coal would seal shafts of an old colliery by filling them right up to the surface, but to facilitate a new underground tour, British Coal did all they could to help. Instead they used a thick layer of concrete to plug the two shafts well below the surface, allowing the museum to use the tops of the shafts. At the bottom area, the museum built a new mine using some shallow workings and a railway cutting. This new experience survived until the early 1990s, before the museum closed for good in August 1993, with an auction held the following year to sell of all its assets.
Since then, many of the buildings have received listed status. Additionally, a small group of people interested in preserving the site founded The Friends of Chatterley Whitfield in the early 2000s, who have had limited access to the site. In recent years they have offered tours of the site including Heritage Open Days.
2. The Explore
So not the exciting “self-guided” tour that many have done on here. I’d not previously looked round here so the Heritage Open Day Tour seemed like a good idea for a Chatterley virgin like myself. The site is massive and there is a lot of fencing and CCTV to keep unauthorised visitors out. The tour we were taken on was led by two really knowledgeable guys who clearly have a big passion for the site. We got to spend plenty of time walking around most of the site, but as expected, access to the majority of the buildings wasn’t permitted. There’s plenty of reports up on the site where people have gotten into the various buildings. It really is an amazing place so hopefully as much as possible with be saved. They have a few urbexers who they escort off the site when caught. Their main issue is the metal thieves who, to this day, still plague the site and nick stuff.
Anyhow, hopefully this set of pictures will be useful for people who are contemplating a tour of the site. It also gives a different perspective to the one you have with the clandestine visits.
Also in the pleasurable company of @Bikin Glynn and @Down and beyond
3. The Pictures
First up – the canteen and pit baths:
The empty canteen room:
Would have loved a better look round the pithead bath building:
Some fascinating history in the maps room:
Architect’s plans for the pithead baths and canteen:
Shift times:
Into the lamp room building:
Part of the former museum:
Main room:
Battery charger frame:
Abstract:
Former display case:
Area Shaft Building:
The old powerhouse:
Winstanley Headgear:
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