I live on clock face road
The bold one is literally a stone throw away and the Sutton manor one is a stone throw away but the bold one is for baths after the miners on the gorsey Lane baths
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Deep Mine Headstocks, Part 1, The Midlands, Various Locations, 2022-23
The bold one is literally a stone throw away and the Sutton manor one is a stone throw away but the bold one is for baths after the miners on the gorsey Lane baths
Blimey that's strange. I got mixed up with names. I lived in pasture close on four acre. So Sutton manor was the one at the back of us, clock face not too far away. And bold was a little further out. My grandad worked at that one as the coal was primarily for the large power station there. My gran worked there as well. I know some buildings exist there, but in use by a business.
So here is Part 3 of the remaining Headstocks in the UK! Slight change of plan, this is now going to be four parts, as the last report is simply too big to post as one. Scotland first, as I need to research a couple of last minute Yorkshire additions for Northern England.
Previous parts can be found here;
Part 1 - Here
Part 2 - Here
Going to start this one off with a correction each from Part 1 and 2, as I unfortunately missed them.
Derbyshire
Thanks to @alex17595 for pointing me to the location for this very elusive Headframe. I was looking around the wrong area, and wasted over an hour scouring the hillside around the wrong quarry to no avail. Did find a solitary chimney at least. Had I not been lazy and taken the other path back to the car, rather than the same (shorter) route I walked up, I'd have walked right past it on the first attempt. Unfortunately the cage is no longer standing.
History is very thin with this one, I've only been able to find one source for it. The shaft was sunk to a depth of 80 feet, being worked as part of the very profitable Gregory Lead Mine, with the earliest known workings dating back to the 17th Century. The mine was at its most profitable in the 18th Century, but suffered from severe flooding and geological issues, which resulted in it's closure in 1806. The mine was leased from Sir Joseph Banks, who owned the nearby Overton Hall, who once sailed with Captain Cook.
The old winding engine -
Like many disused Lead mines, it was later reopened for the extraction of Fluorspar. This was done by a private venture in the 1960s, who erected the Headgear and cage that remains today. Little work was required to extract the spa, as it had mostly been discarded by the previous Lead miners as waste.
Cornwall
This Tin & Copper mine was mostly worked between 1845-76, producing large quantities of Copper and Black Tin. There were multiple shafts dotted around to access the Sett, with the remaining Headframe situated over the East Shaft. It continued being worked intermittently into the C20th, with the mine being merged with Wheal Grenville in 1906, forming the Grenville United Mines.
In 1920 the Wheal Grenville mine closed, resulting in the King Edward Mine adjacent to it flooding due to the cessation of pumping. This left the Camborne School of Mines without a mine to train, so they moved to the shallow workings in the nearby Landower Lode. The Vivian Shaft (formerly East Shaft) and another small shaft were opened down to a depth of around 100 feet, with a small level being established in the old workings.
The Headframe was designed by Head Wrightson & Co. Ltd of Thornaby-on-Tees in 1936, and was built by a local company, the Holman Bros. of Camborne. It was erected over the Vivian Shaft by the staff and students of the King Edward Mine, and is unique, because it is the only known surviving Headframe built solely for training purposes. It is Grade II Listed, due to this, and because it's a rare example of the smaller style of Headframe that's in very good condition.
Scotland
Barony Colliery
Work to open a colliery at Barony was started by William Baird & Co. in order to supply the nearby Lugar Ironworks with coal. Sinking began in 1906, with two shafts being sunk, the No.1 and No.2 Pits. The shafts were completed by 1912, having been sunk to a depth of 2,054 feet, with the first coal being raised the same year. It was the deepest colliery in Scotland.
The Baird Company owned three other pits around Ayrshire, and were heavily focused on their interests in the Iron Industry. The industry suffered a massive downturn in the 1920s, so the company switched their focus primarily to coal production. They merged with the Dalmellington Iron Company in 1931, forming Baird's & Dalmellington Ltd. and retained ownership of Barony until nationalisation in 1947.
Work to sink a third shaft began in 1938 in order to increase coal output from 1,500 tons per day to 2,500 tons. The outbreak of WW2 stopped work however, so the shaft wasn't completed until 1950. It was sunk to a depth of 2,044 feet.
The colliery underwent a modernisation program after nationalisation, with the A Frame headstock that remains in situ being erected over the No.3 Shaft in 1954. It was built to a German design, and was one of only two built in the country. It contains two sets of winding gear, one to raise coal, and one to transport the men, using 4 cages to do this.
A power station was added in 1957, generating electricity from the slurry left over from the coal washing process.
There was a disaster on 8th November 1962, where the No.2 Pit collapsed in on itself, entombing 4 men. The headstock fell into the shaft on 14 November blocking the shaft, preventing any rescue attempts.
The No.1 Pit had to be infilled in order to ensure the survival of the surface buildings and The No.3 Pit. The colliery couldn't operate without a ventilation shaft, so work to sink a new shaft to a depth of 1,672 feet began in 1965. Work was complete and production resumed by 1966. The No.3 shaft was subsequently used as the downcast, and the new No.4 shaft was used as the upcast shaft.
The power station closed in 1983, being demolished to make way for a factory, and the colliery followed in 1989, with the site quickly being cleared, except the Headframe, which was given Grade B listed status in 1990. It is the last of it's type in Britain.
Old Farme Colliery Headframe (Summerlee)
Unfortunately information on this colliery is very thin on the ground, with the majority of information focusing around its rare winding engine. I believe the Headframe to be original, but I'm not sure, especially as it's wooden. It had a very uncommon design for it's winding engine, using a Newcomen Engine in a rotative rather than vertical form. From what I can find, there are only three of this type left in the world, and the one at Summerlee is the only one in Europe, having originated from Old Farme Colliery.
The engine was built in 1810, and was the colliery's first, being used for both winding and pumping of the pit. It pumped water from a depth of 138 feet, but was later replaced with another Newcomen Engine that was considerably larger and dedicated to pumping in 1820. The colliery was the oldest operating in Lanarkshire, and finally closed on the 17th July 1931.
The Newcomen Engine was taken out of service and gifted to the City of Glasgow Corporation for the Kelvingrove Museum of Victorian Industry in 1915, with every component being carefully measured and drawn. This museum never opened however, so the engine remained in storage until it made its way to the Summerlee Museum.
The other two that remain in existence were both English, and were purchased by Henry Ford in 1928 for his museum. He wanted to purchase the Farme engine, but abandoned the idea when it fell into the CoGC hands.
It has been on what's essentially a permanent loan deal from the Glasgow Museums to the Summerlee Museum since 1987, with it currently residing in a replica engine house that was built specifically for it as part of the coal mining section of the museum.
Dysart / Frances Colliery
Work to sink the Frances Shaft on the Dysart Estate by the Earl of Rosslyn's Collieries Ltd. may have started by 1850, but sources are unclear. There were pits being worked by Messrs Barclay and Normand as early as 1825, but many of these were worked out by 1872. I believe the Frances Shaft was open by 1873, as most sources suggest this, with work on sinking definitely underway by 1871. During the intervening years, the Lady Blanche Pit, which was 240 feet deep, was worked, but I'm unsure as to when this was sunk.
The shaft was sunk to a depth of 1,509 feet using a peculiar layout, with the first 600 feet being elliptical, and the other 909 being the usual circular. One source suggests there were issues with water ingress, hampering efforts to sink the pit, so this could be an explanation for this.
Information from the C20th is more readily available at least! The colliery was purchased by the Fife Coal Company in 1923. They started a program of redevelopment, digging a drift mine at a 1 in 4 angle in 1924, which extended for 800 yards underground and in 1925 they constructed a Baum Type coal washery to serve the mine.
They slowly modernised the rest of the Pit through the 1930s and 40s, with new headgear and a new Robey & Metro Vickers 1,600HP electric winder forming the centrepiece of this work. They managed to install these with very little impact on coal output. Electric Locomotive Haulage was added underground in 1957, using Greenbat Locomotives produced by Greenwood & Batley in Armley, Leeds.
Coal production ceased at the site in 1985, with the site being put under care and maintenance. Final closure came in 1988. Most of the site was demolished in 1990, after a project dubbed Project Frances failed to get off the ground. The Headframe for the Frances Shaft was left as a memorial to the Fife mining industry.
Mary Colliery
Work started on the Mary No.1 Shaft in 1902, with it being sunk to a depth of 2,011 feet, and completed by 1904. This made it one of the deepest in Scotland, with it being deepest until the completion of Barony in 1912. The No.2 Shaft was sunk in 1923, with this being taken to a depth of 1,709 feet. The No.1 Shaft was used as ventilation only after this, having the depth reduced to 659 feet.
The colliery underwent a modernisation program in 1946, which saw the introduction of larger mine cars and locomotive haulage underground. A new car handling plant was added at the surface, along with a Redd Disposal Plant for the treatment of Fly Ash.
The colliery closed in 1966, with the site being completely abandoned in 1968. The remaining concrete headgear is situated in the Lochore Meadows Country Park, and is situated over the No.2 Shaft, which has been capped with a slab of concrete.
Highhouse Colliery
Sinking of the colliery at Highhouse commenced in 1894 by William Baird & Co. with a pair of shafts being sunk. No.1 Shaft was 564 feet deep, and the No.2 Shaft was 571 feet. It was later linked to nearby Barony via underground roadway.
The colliery closed in 1983, with the entirety of the site being demolished except for the No.2 Headframe. It's a relatively new headgear, being built in 1968 to replace the original wooden one. Apparently the winding engine also remains in the remnants of the original engine house, albeit in a partially stripped condition. It's another Grant, Ritchie and Co. affair, with a duplex drum design, a rare survivor today.
A beam engine, nicknamed the Old Ben Beam Engine after it's operator at Highhouse, was moved from it's original location at a colliery owned by Dalry Collieries in 1875 to the Craigston Pit (Ironstone) before making its way to Highhouse in 1890. It was built in 1790 by Walkinshaw at Bridgeton Works. It was moved to the Heriot Watt mining school in Edinburgh in the 1950s, and now resides at Lady Victoria Colliery.
Previous parts can be found here;
Part 1 - Here
Part 2 - Here
Going to start this one off with a correction each from Part 1 and 2, as I unfortunately missed them.
Derbyshire
Thanks to @alex17595 for pointing me to the location for this very elusive Headframe. I was looking around the wrong area, and wasted over an hour scouring the hillside around the wrong quarry to no avail. Did find a solitary chimney at least. Had I not been lazy and taken the other path back to the car, rather than the same (shorter) route I walked up, I'd have walked right past it on the first attempt. Unfortunately the cage is no longer standing.
History is very thin with this one, I've only been able to find one source for it. The shaft was sunk to a depth of 80 feet, being worked as part of the very profitable Gregory Lead Mine, with the earliest known workings dating back to the 17th Century. The mine was at its most profitable in the 18th Century, but suffered from severe flooding and geological issues, which resulted in it's closure in 1806. The mine was leased from Sir Joseph Banks, who owned the nearby Overton Hall, who once sailed with Captain Cook.
The old winding engine -
Like many disused Lead mines, it was later reopened for the extraction of Fluorspar. This was done by a private venture in the 1960s, who erected the Headgear and cage that remains today. Little work was required to extract the spa, as it had mostly been discarded by the previous Lead miners as waste.
Cornwall
This Tin & Copper mine was mostly worked between 1845-76, producing large quantities of Copper and Black Tin. There were multiple shafts dotted around to access the Sett, with the remaining Headframe situated over the East Shaft. It continued being worked intermittently into the C20th, with the mine being merged with Wheal Grenville in 1906, forming the Grenville United Mines.
In 1920 the Wheal Grenville mine closed, resulting in the King Edward Mine adjacent to it flooding due to the cessation of pumping. This left the Camborne School of Mines without a mine to train, so they moved to the shallow workings in the nearby Landower Lode. The Vivian Shaft (formerly East Shaft) and another small shaft were opened down to a depth of around 100 feet, with a small level being established in the old workings.
The Headframe was designed by Head Wrightson & Co. Ltd of Thornaby-on-Tees in 1936, and was built by a local company, the Holman Bros. of Camborne. It was erected over the Vivian Shaft by the staff and students of the King Edward Mine, and is unique, because it is the only known surviving Headframe built solely for training purposes. It is Grade II Listed, due to this, and because it's a rare example of the smaller style of Headframe that's in very good condition.
Scotland
Barony Colliery
Work to open a colliery at Barony was started by William Baird & Co. in order to supply the nearby Lugar Ironworks with coal. Sinking began in 1906, with two shafts being sunk, the No.1 and No.2 Pits. The shafts were completed by 1912, having been sunk to a depth of 2,054 feet, with the first coal being raised the same year. It was the deepest colliery in Scotland.
The Baird Company owned three other pits around Ayrshire, and were heavily focused on their interests in the Iron Industry. The industry suffered a massive downturn in the 1920s, so the company switched their focus primarily to coal production. They merged with the Dalmellington Iron Company in 1931, forming Baird's & Dalmellington Ltd. and retained ownership of Barony until nationalisation in 1947.
Work to sink a third shaft began in 1938 in order to increase coal output from 1,500 tons per day to 2,500 tons. The outbreak of WW2 stopped work however, so the shaft wasn't completed until 1950. It was sunk to a depth of 2,044 feet.
The colliery underwent a modernisation program after nationalisation, with the A Frame headstock that remains in situ being erected over the No.3 Shaft in 1954. It was built to a German design, and was one of only two built in the country. It contains two sets of winding gear, one to raise coal, and one to transport the men, using 4 cages to do this.
A power station was added in 1957, generating electricity from the slurry left over from the coal washing process.
There was a disaster on 8th November 1962, where the No.2 Pit collapsed in on itself, entombing 4 men. The headstock fell into the shaft on 14 November blocking the shaft, preventing any rescue attempts.
The No.1 Pit had to be infilled in order to ensure the survival of the surface buildings and The No.3 Pit. The colliery couldn't operate without a ventilation shaft, so work to sink a new shaft to a depth of 1,672 feet began in 1965. Work was complete and production resumed by 1966. The No.3 shaft was subsequently used as the downcast, and the new No.4 shaft was used as the upcast shaft.
The power station closed in 1983, being demolished to make way for a factory, and the colliery followed in 1989, with the site quickly being cleared, except the Headframe, which was given Grade B listed status in 1990. It is the last of it's type in Britain.
Old Farme Colliery Headframe (Summerlee)
Unfortunately information on this colliery is very thin on the ground, with the majority of information focusing around its rare winding engine. I believe the Headframe to be original, but I'm not sure, especially as it's wooden. It had a very uncommon design for it's winding engine, using a Newcomen Engine in a rotative rather than vertical form. From what I can find, there are only three of this type left in the world, and the one at Summerlee is the only one in Europe, having originated from Old Farme Colliery.
The engine was built in 1810, and was the colliery's first, being used for both winding and pumping of the pit. It pumped water from a depth of 138 feet, but was later replaced with another Newcomen Engine that was considerably larger and dedicated to pumping in 1820. The colliery was the oldest operating in Lanarkshire, and finally closed on the 17th July 1931.
The Newcomen Engine was taken out of service and gifted to the City of Glasgow Corporation for the Kelvingrove Museum of Victorian Industry in 1915, with every component being carefully measured and drawn. This museum never opened however, so the engine remained in storage until it made its way to the Summerlee Museum.
The other two that remain in existence were both English, and were purchased by Henry Ford in 1928 for his museum. He wanted to purchase the Farme engine, but abandoned the idea when it fell into the CoGC hands.
It has been on what's essentially a permanent loan deal from the Glasgow Museums to the Summerlee Museum since 1987, with it currently residing in a replica engine house that was built specifically for it as part of the coal mining section of the museum.
Dysart / Frances Colliery
Work to sink the Frances Shaft on the Dysart Estate by the Earl of Rosslyn's Collieries Ltd. may have started by 1850, but sources are unclear. There were pits being worked by Messrs Barclay and Normand as early as 1825, but many of these were worked out by 1872. I believe the Frances Shaft was open by 1873, as most sources suggest this, with work on sinking definitely underway by 1871. During the intervening years, the Lady Blanche Pit, which was 240 feet deep, was worked, but I'm unsure as to when this was sunk.
The shaft was sunk to a depth of 1,509 feet using a peculiar layout, with the first 600 feet being elliptical, and the other 909 being the usual circular. One source suggests there were issues with water ingress, hampering efforts to sink the pit, so this could be an explanation for this.
Information from the C20th is more readily available at least! The colliery was purchased by the Fife Coal Company in 1923. They started a program of redevelopment, digging a drift mine at a 1 in 4 angle in 1924, which extended for 800 yards underground and in 1925 they constructed a Baum Type coal washery to serve the mine.
They slowly modernised the rest of the Pit through the 1930s and 40s, with new headgear and a new Robey & Metro Vickers 1,600HP electric winder forming the centrepiece of this work. They managed to install these with very little impact on coal output. Electric Locomotive Haulage was added underground in 1957, using Greenbat Locomotives produced by Greenwood & Batley in Armley, Leeds.
Coal production ceased at the site in 1985, with the site being put under care and maintenance. Final closure came in 1988. Most of the site was demolished in 1990, after a project dubbed Project Frances failed to get off the ground. The Headframe for the Frances Shaft was left as a memorial to the Fife mining industry.
Mary Colliery
Work started on the Mary No.1 Shaft in 1902, with it being sunk to a depth of 2,011 feet, and completed by 1904. This made it one of the deepest in Scotland, with it being deepest until the completion of Barony in 1912. The No.2 Shaft was sunk in 1923, with this being taken to a depth of 1,709 feet. The No.1 Shaft was used as ventilation only after this, having the depth reduced to 659 feet.
The colliery underwent a modernisation program in 1946, which saw the introduction of larger mine cars and locomotive haulage underground. A new car handling plant was added at the surface, along with a Redd Disposal Plant for the treatment of Fly Ash.
The colliery closed in 1966, with the site being completely abandoned in 1968. The remaining concrete headgear is situated in the Lochore Meadows Country Park, and is situated over the No.2 Shaft, which has been capped with a slab of concrete.
Highhouse Colliery
Sinking of the colliery at Highhouse commenced in 1894 by William Baird & Co. with a pair of shafts being sunk. No.1 Shaft was 564 feet deep, and the No.2 Shaft was 571 feet. It was later linked to nearby Barony via underground roadway.
The colliery closed in 1983, with the entirety of the site being demolished except for the No.2 Headframe. It's a relatively new headgear, being built in 1968 to replace the original wooden one. Apparently the winding engine also remains in the remnants of the original engine house, albeit in a partially stripped condition. It's another Grant, Ritchie and Co. affair, with a duplex drum design, a rare survivor today.
A beam engine, nicknamed the Old Ben Beam Engine after it's operator at Highhouse, was moved from it's original location at a colliery owned by Dalry Collieries in 1875 to the Craigston Pit (Ironstone) before making its way to Highhouse in 1890. It was built in 1790 by Walkinshaw at Bridgeton Works. It was moved to the Heriot Watt mining school in Edinburgh in the 1950s, and now resides at Lady Victoria Colliery.
Continued
Prestongrange Colliery
Coal had been mined at Prestongrange since the C12th, with the earliest written accounts of coal mining in Scotland coming from the area. The pit at Prestongrange was the first deep pit in Scotland, sunk by Matthias Dunn of Newcastle in 1829, with the shaft reaching the Great Seam at a depth of 420 feet in 1830. There was a couple of pauses in production between 1830-74 due to problems with water ingress. The second shaft was sunk in 1872-74 to overcome this, reaching a depth of 545 feet, and a third was added during WW1, which was 738 feet deep.
The No.1 Shaft was switched to pumping duties at this time to drain the workings, using a Cornish Beam Engine built by J. E. Mare & Co. of Plymouth in 1853. It saw use in three separate Cornish Mines before being purchased by Prestongrange Coal and Iron Company. It was shipped north by Harvey & Co. of Hayle, who modified it with a new beam of their own manufacture. The engine remained in use until 1954, before being superceded by electric pumps.
The colliery underwent significant expansion in the 1890s with the addition of a Brick, Tile, and Fireclay works, which ended up outlasting the colliery, remaining open until the 1975. A Hoffman Kiln was added by the Summerlee Iron Company in 1937, which helped make it the largest industry on the Prestongrange site by 1947.
Hoffman Kiln, most intact I've ever come across -
Pit Head Baths -
The colliery closed in 1962 with site clearance beginning immediately after. It was quickly highlighted as being of significant historical value however, so work stopped in 1963, with only the No.2 Headframe and Norton Washer having been demolished. These had been seriously damaged by fire in January 1960 though.
What remained was saved and now forms a major part of the Scottish Mining Museum, along with the Lady Victoria Colliery in nearby Midlothian, operating as the Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum. A Hoffman Kiln also remains on site from the Brickworks, along with remains of a C17th Glassworks and C18th Pottery.
Lady Victoria Colliery
Work to sink The Lady Victoria Colliery began in 1890 with the 1,738 feet deep shaft being completed in 1894. It was a joint venture between Schomberg Kerr, the 9th Marquis of Lothian, and Archibald Hood, a noted mining engineer from Ayrshire, who operated it under the Lothian Coal Company. It was named in honour of the Marquis' wife.
It was an unusual colliery as it only had a single shaft. It relied on the nearby Lingerwood Colliery which is was linked to underground to serve as it's second means of egress, which met the requirements of the law enacted after the Hartley Colliery Disaster. They also shared Pit Head Facilities, using the same Baths and Canteen, both of which were constructed in the 1950s.
For a time it was the deepest pit in Scotland, and it was served by the largest winding engine in the country, which was provided by Grant, Ritchie & Co's Townholm Engine Works in Kilmarnock. The engine had 2,400HP, and was of the twin compound horizontal design, utilising 42" cylinders with a 7' stroke. The Headgear was built by Sir William Arrol & Co. between 1893-94.
The colliery was linked to the Waverley Line, and was built with an extensive marshalling yard and sidings for efficient shipping of coal by rail. This continued through to 1968 when shipping by rail ceased, which resulted in the closure of the line in 1969.
The colliery closed in 1981, but was spared demolition by the local authority, with work being undertaken to turn it into the Scottish Mining Museum. It is the most complete example of a Victorian Colliery remaining in the UK.
Thanks for looking 👌🏻
Prestongrange Colliery
Coal had been mined at Prestongrange since the C12th, with the earliest written accounts of coal mining in Scotland coming from the area. The pit at Prestongrange was the first deep pit in Scotland, sunk by Matthias Dunn of Newcastle in 1829, with the shaft reaching the Great Seam at a depth of 420 feet in 1830. There was a couple of pauses in production between 1830-74 due to problems with water ingress. The second shaft was sunk in 1872-74 to overcome this, reaching a depth of 545 feet, and a third was added during WW1, which was 738 feet deep.
The No.1 Shaft was switched to pumping duties at this time to drain the workings, using a Cornish Beam Engine built by J. E. Mare & Co. of Plymouth in 1853. It saw use in three separate Cornish Mines before being purchased by Prestongrange Coal and Iron Company. It was shipped north by Harvey & Co. of Hayle, who modified it with a new beam of their own manufacture. The engine remained in use until 1954, before being superceded by electric pumps.
The colliery underwent significant expansion in the 1890s with the addition of a Brick, Tile, and Fireclay works, which ended up outlasting the colliery, remaining open until the 1975. A Hoffman Kiln was added by the Summerlee Iron Company in 1937, which helped make it the largest industry on the Prestongrange site by 1947.
Hoffman Kiln, most intact I've ever come across -
Pit Head Baths -
The colliery closed in 1962 with site clearance beginning immediately after. It was quickly highlighted as being of significant historical value however, so work stopped in 1963, with only the No.2 Headframe and Norton Washer having been demolished. These had been seriously damaged by fire in January 1960 though.
What remained was saved and now forms a major part of the Scottish Mining Museum, along with the Lady Victoria Colliery in nearby Midlothian, operating as the Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum. A Hoffman Kiln also remains on site from the Brickworks, along with remains of a C17th Glassworks and C18th Pottery.
Lady Victoria Colliery
Work to sink The Lady Victoria Colliery began in 1890 with the 1,738 feet deep shaft being completed in 1894. It was a joint venture between Schomberg Kerr, the 9th Marquis of Lothian, and Archibald Hood, a noted mining engineer from Ayrshire, who operated it under the Lothian Coal Company. It was named in honour of the Marquis' wife.
It was an unusual colliery as it only had a single shaft. It relied on the nearby Lingerwood Colliery which is was linked to underground to serve as it's second means of egress, which met the requirements of the law enacted after the Hartley Colliery Disaster. They also shared Pit Head Facilities, using the same Baths and Canteen, both of which were constructed in the 1950s.
For a time it was the deepest pit in Scotland, and it was served by the largest winding engine in the country, which was provided by Grant, Ritchie & Co's Townholm Engine Works in Kilmarnock. The engine had 2,400HP, and was of the twin compound horizontal design, utilising 42" cylinders with a 7' stroke. The Headgear was built by Sir William Arrol & Co. between 1893-94.
The colliery was linked to the Waverley Line, and was built with an extensive marshalling yard and sidings for efficient shipping of coal by rail. This continued through to 1968 when shipping by rail ceased, which resulted in the closure of the line in 1969.
The colliery closed in 1981, but was spared demolition by the local authority, with work being undertaken to turn it into the Scottish Mining Museum. It is the most complete example of a Victorian Colliery remaining in the UK.
Thanks for looking 👌🏻
Thank you! I'm going to need a new project to work on now that I've done them all
Very nice selection again, the first one is really cool, could love to have that right outside my house!
What a fantastic report sir !
Indepth history and amazing shots, perfect.
Makes me realise I really need a better camera than what my phone offers.
Indepth history and amazing shots, perfect.
Makes me realise I really need a better camera than what my phone offers.
Just as good as pt1 & 2. Really comprehensive and could be featured in a book or magazine. Images are just fab. Im especially drawn to the 2nd to last one here. Seems so odd to see it all alone like that. But wow what a size and show piece.
It is a shame that there aren't more still left standing, I've enjoyed tracking them all down! I have finally climbed one as well... But that's for part 4!
Dont forget the underground ones
So here it is, the final report* on the remaining Headstocks in the UK!
*I'll probably have missed something else, so there may be more in future 🤔
Part 1 - Here
Part 2 - Here
Part 3 - Here
I'm aware of another three that are underground;
Bwlch Glas which I mentioned in Part 1
The Sir Francis Level at Gunnerside Gill which requires abseiling down a shaft at a time of year where the water level is low enough to wade to the Headstock
Burtree Pasture which requires abseiling down an air shaft for access due to a collapsed adit. Luckily there is a report covering this one (Here)
As per the end of Part 2, that kind of shit is way out of my comfort zone, so they're definitely not happening, not solo anyway.
I'm also aware that there is some at the Boulby and Winsford Mines, but both of these are active, so doubt they'd appreciate a drone buzzing around. I think the Winsford ones are encased in concrete towers, so not much to be seen anyway.
Now, on to the interesting part!
Northumberland
Woodhorn Colliery
Apologies for the lack of drone angles here, I was rudely interrupted before I could get all the shots, details below!
Work to sink the shafts was started by the Ashington Coal Company on the 16th May 1894, with them being completed on the 26th June 1897 to a depth of 873 feet. They passed through the High Main, Main, Yard, Low Main and Plessey Seams. Coal was first produced in February 1898. Both Headframes remain in situ, along with their engine houses.
Downcast Shaft -
Upcast Shaft -
The first coal cutting Machinery was installed in 1903. There was a fatal explosion in the Main Seam, killing 13 miners on the 13th August 1916. It was likely caused by an accumulation of Firedamp, which prior to the event, had never been detected in the Main Seam, such that miners worked with candles, one of which likely ignited the gas. 11 were killed instantly, and two died of their wounds, having never regained consciousness.
The colliery ceased winding in 1966, with coal being raised at the nearby Ashington Colliery. The colliery steadily declined through the 1970s, with output and manpower steadily falling. Closure came on February 27th 1981, with the linking conveyor tunnels to Ashington being sealed. The colliery remained open for salvage work until 1986.
Information is a bit thin on this one on Google, no idea why. Probably plenty on the information signs in the museum, but the jobsworth security guard wouldn't let me in for 5 minutes after stopping me from flying the drone and bullshitting about low flying helicopters and it being a restricted area (it wasn't restricted airspace) 🙄. By the time he bothered telling me, I probably could have finished, but I landed temporarily as a school trip materialised out of one of the buildings. Only location I've had an issue with thankfully (other than Tower Colliery, but that mountain hates me 😂).
Lancashire
Astley Green Colliery
Astley Green Colliery was the last colliery to be sunk in the Astley area, with sinking commencing in 1908 by the Pilikington Colliery Company, a subsidiary of the Clifton and Kearsley Company. They wanted to exploit coal reserves in the area, as C&Ks reserves in the Irwell Valley were becoming depleted.
Shaft sinking probed difficult due to quicksand and water ingress, so the company contracted Haniel and Lueg of Düsseldorf-Düsseltal to sink the shafts. No.1 Shaft was sunk to a depth of 2,670 feet, and No.2 Shaft to a depth of 2,499 feet. Work was completed by 1912. The No.1 Shaft was serviced by a winding engine with four cylinders in a Twin Tandem Compound arrangement, which developed 3,300HP at 58RPM. It was built by Yates and Thom of Blackburn, and was one of the largest winding engines in Britain, which remains in situ at the museum today.
In 1929, it became part of the Manchester Collieries and in 1947, part of the NCB under nationalisation. The colliery remained open until 1970. There was an accident in 1939. Whilst fighting an underground fire over a mile from the pit bottom, there was a firedamp explosion. Despite the efforts of the mine rescues teams from Boothstown Mines Rescue Station, five men died, as the rescuers were driven back by further explosions.
The remaining Headgear on site is from the No.1 Shaft, and is 80 feet high, being completed by Head Wrightson of Stockton-on-Tees in 1912. It is the last remaining Headstock in the Lancashire Coalfield.
Yorkshire
Barnsley Main Colliery
Barnsley Main is located in Stairfoot, and began its life as the Oaks Colliery in 1824, with a pair of shafts, one for winding, and one for pumping.
It was an extremely gassy colliery, and suffered many explosions over its life. There were two in 1845, and one in 1847, which killed 73 miners, which prompted changes to the ventilation of the mine.
It was the site of the worst mining disaster in England in 1866. Over a period of ten days, there were thirteen explosions, which unfortunately resulted in the deaths of a staggering 361 miners and 27 rescuers! As a result, the shafts were infilled. There was another explosion resulting in the deaths of 9 miners in 1947.
New shafts were sunk in 1867, with a new colliery opening as the New Oaks Colliery in 1870. The Pit Head for this was located to the South East under what is now an industrial estate. The Pit Head in situ is for the No.2 Downcast Shaft, with the shaft appearing on the 1892 OS Map, labelled as part of the Rylands Main Colliery with the Pit Head further south. The workings were extensively developed, and by 1906, a Pit Head had been established around the shaft, and the colliery was renamed Barnsley Main. The No.2 Shaft was sunk to a depth of 1,536 feet, with the No.4 Upcast Shaft being 1,920 feet deep.
The No.2 Shaft was deepened beyond the Barnsley Main Seam to the Fenton Seam in 1916, with the introduction of cutting machines occuring at the same time. By 1931, the underground workings had extended into the old Oaks Colliery workings. There was another fatal explosion on the 7th May 1947, resulting in the deaths of 7 men. The site was modernised after nationalisation, with the date stone on the winding house suggesting this took place in 1956.
The site closed in 1966 as a result of an accelerated pit closure program for older pits,but was reopened in the 70s by the NCB for man-riding with coal raised at the Barrow Colliery. The colliery closed for good in 1991, with everything except the No.2 Pit Head being demolished.
The site is in the hands of a heritage group. The site was sealed by the local authority after closure to prevent vandalism, and remains well sealed, although it was accessible many moons ago, see Yorrick 's report (Here) for some cracking interior shots.
Hemingfield Colliery
Hemingfield was first established as one of a trio of mines around Elsecar under the ownership of Earl Fitzwilliam in the 1840s. It was also known as Elsecar Low, with the others being Elsecar Mid and Elsecar High. It was renowned for many engineering experiments by the influential mining engineer Benjamin Biram.
He developed an improved safety lamp, created a mechanical anemometer to measure mine ventilation and he was an early pioneer of fan based ventilation. At Hemingfield, he experimented with a hydraulically powered fan, of which two tanks remain today, likely retrieved from the bottom of one of the shafts. The Winding Shaft was also used to experiment with using lift cages, and was of a bypass design, allowing two cages to pass by each other at a widened section at the midway point. This allowed larger cages to be used.
Sinking began in 1842, encountering issues with gas and water, meaning it took until 1847 to reach the Barnsley Seam. There was a total of five shafts (four at the surface, as the two Upcasts combined on the way up) by 1865, consisting of the Engine Pit (for pumping, 468 feet deep), the Winding Shaft (468 feet deep), the Upcast Shaft (sunk 1852-53) and the Rainborough Shaft (for ventilation, sunk 1864-65, 525 feet deep).
There was an explosion on the 22nd December 1862, which killed 10 and injured 12 others. The outcome could have been significantly worse were it not for Biram's division of ventilation separately between the districts.
Coal production ceased in 1920, but the site was retained for pumping, as the Barnsley Seam in the area filled with water at an alarming rate. The pit was taken over by the South Yorkshire Pumping Association, a syndicate of 15 local collieries who's workings were affected by this water ingress. It was one of many pumping stations in the area. It became somewhat more official in 1929 with the formation of the South Yorkshire Mines Drainage Committee.
The site was passed to the NCB after nationalisation, outliving all the other collieries in the Elsecar area (Elsecar Main being last to close in 1983). In 1987 when the NCB was rebranded into the British Coal Corporation, the site was retained and managed by the Silverwood Colliery, until pumping ceased in October 1989. The site came under the ownership of RJB Mining in 1994, although it remained inactive, falling into disrepair by the early 2000s. The site was purchased by a heritage group who are working to restore what remains.
There are two Headstocks remaining on site, with both dating from the pumping era. The smaller building on site is the original Cornish Pumping Engine House, with the concrete headstock attached to it being installed in the 1920s over the Engine Pit, at the same time as installation of the electric pumping equipment underground. It was used for maintenance access, and as a rescue shaft for the Barnsley Seam.
The larger Headframe is situated over the Winding Shaft, and was erected in 1940, for the same purposes I'd imagine, as it never reopened as a working colliery.
Elsecar New Colliery
Owned by the Earl as above (This was Elsecar Mid), three shafts were sunk in 1793 to a depth of 120 feet, exploiting the Barnsley Seam with production beginning in 1795. They were later deepened to 180 feet to exploit the Parkgate Seam, with additional pumps being installed in 1823 to facilitate this.
A Newcomen-type Beam Engine was installed in 1795, which remained in service until 1923. It is still in situ today, and is the only one in existence in its original location. It's much more impressive than the ickle Headframe on site. The colliery remained open until 1853, when it was replaced by the Simon Wood Colliery.
The Headstock and Newcomen Engine form part of the Elsecar Heritage Centre, which also ran a heritage railway, although it appears to have shut down, with the track in the station having been lifted. The engine is in running condition (albeit via hydraulics), having been restored between 2012-14. I'm assuming the Headstock is a replica, I can't see one so small still being in situ 170 years after closure.
Westfield Pumping Station
The Westfield Pumping Station was owned by Earl Fitzwilliam, who as above, also owned the Elsecar series of Collieries. It was responsible for keeping water out of the Earl's pits, having been constructed in 1823.
Towards the end of the C19th, many of the smaller, shallower collieries were being abandoned, as their reserves had been worked out. Due to insufficient forward planning, and putting profit first, many of these older collieries had insufficiently sized coal barriers separating them, so as pumping ceased water levels rose, threatening to break through these barriers and inundate other workings.
This problem was a major threat to the entire South Yorkshire Coalfield, as water would be able to follow the dip of the Barnsley Seam and flood much larger collieries that were working at a much deeper level. The problem remained under control thanks to the Earl, but as his pits exhausted their reserves, pumping would cease as they closed.
To prevent this, they negotiated a settlement with the Earl to pay for the continuation of pumping in 1918. This was to be managed by the newly formed South Yorkshire Pumping Association. The purchase was completed on the 4th October 1920. Below is an excerpt from the letter written to the Earl discussing the problem, detailing the water pumped from the Westfield site.
A water level runs from Low Stubbin Colliery to the Newbiggin pumping station at Rawmarsh, a distance of about two miles, and the water thus intercepted is raised to the surface by two 15” bucket lifts, 6 feet stroke, worked by an atmospheric engine erected in the year 1823. This engine can work a maximum of 10 strokes a minute, and the quantity raised per day in winter is 270,000 gallons, and in summer 120,000 gallons, throughout the twenty-four hours, the pump working four to five hours per day in summer and eight to ten hours in winter.
I've been unable to find a depth for the shaft unfortunately. Looks like you can get inside the pump house if you climbed up, unfortunately I wasn't able to try, as it's down a residential street, and flying the drone attracted the attention of a local drunk, and it was 9am... 😂
*I'll probably have missed something else, so there may be more in future 🤔
Part 1 - Here
Part 2 - Here
Part 3 - Here
I'm aware of another three that are underground;
Bwlch Glas which I mentioned in Part 1
The Sir Francis Level at Gunnerside Gill which requires abseiling down a shaft at a time of year where the water level is low enough to wade to the Headstock
Burtree Pasture which requires abseiling down an air shaft for access due to a collapsed adit. Luckily there is a report covering this one (Here)
As per the end of Part 2, that kind of shit is way out of my comfort zone, so they're definitely not happening, not solo anyway.
I'm also aware that there is some at the Boulby and Winsford Mines, but both of these are active, so doubt they'd appreciate a drone buzzing around. I think the Winsford ones are encased in concrete towers, so not much to be seen anyway.
Now, on to the interesting part!
Northumberland
Woodhorn Colliery
Apologies for the lack of drone angles here, I was rudely interrupted before I could get all the shots, details below!
Work to sink the shafts was started by the Ashington Coal Company on the 16th May 1894, with them being completed on the 26th June 1897 to a depth of 873 feet. They passed through the High Main, Main, Yard, Low Main and Plessey Seams. Coal was first produced in February 1898. Both Headframes remain in situ, along with their engine houses.
Downcast Shaft -
Upcast Shaft -
The first coal cutting Machinery was installed in 1903. There was a fatal explosion in the Main Seam, killing 13 miners on the 13th August 1916. It was likely caused by an accumulation of Firedamp, which prior to the event, had never been detected in the Main Seam, such that miners worked with candles, one of which likely ignited the gas. 11 were killed instantly, and two died of their wounds, having never regained consciousness.
The colliery ceased winding in 1966, with coal being raised at the nearby Ashington Colliery. The colliery steadily declined through the 1970s, with output and manpower steadily falling. Closure came on February 27th 1981, with the linking conveyor tunnels to Ashington being sealed. The colliery remained open for salvage work until 1986.
Information is a bit thin on this one on Google, no idea why. Probably plenty on the information signs in the museum, but the jobsworth security guard wouldn't let me in for 5 minutes after stopping me from flying the drone and bullshitting about low flying helicopters and it being a restricted area (it wasn't restricted airspace) 🙄. By the time he bothered telling me, I probably could have finished, but I landed temporarily as a school trip materialised out of one of the buildings. Only location I've had an issue with thankfully (other than Tower Colliery, but that mountain hates me 😂).
Lancashire
Astley Green Colliery
Astley Green Colliery was the last colliery to be sunk in the Astley area, with sinking commencing in 1908 by the Pilikington Colliery Company, a subsidiary of the Clifton and Kearsley Company. They wanted to exploit coal reserves in the area, as C&Ks reserves in the Irwell Valley were becoming depleted.
Shaft sinking probed difficult due to quicksand and water ingress, so the company contracted Haniel and Lueg of Düsseldorf-Düsseltal to sink the shafts. No.1 Shaft was sunk to a depth of 2,670 feet, and No.2 Shaft to a depth of 2,499 feet. Work was completed by 1912. The No.1 Shaft was serviced by a winding engine with four cylinders in a Twin Tandem Compound arrangement, which developed 3,300HP at 58RPM. It was built by Yates and Thom of Blackburn, and was one of the largest winding engines in Britain, which remains in situ at the museum today.
In 1929, it became part of the Manchester Collieries and in 1947, part of the NCB under nationalisation. The colliery remained open until 1970. There was an accident in 1939. Whilst fighting an underground fire over a mile from the pit bottom, there was a firedamp explosion. Despite the efforts of the mine rescues teams from Boothstown Mines Rescue Station, five men died, as the rescuers were driven back by further explosions.
The remaining Headgear on site is from the No.1 Shaft, and is 80 feet high, being completed by Head Wrightson of Stockton-on-Tees in 1912. It is the last remaining Headstock in the Lancashire Coalfield.
Yorkshire
Barnsley Main Colliery
Barnsley Main is located in Stairfoot, and began its life as the Oaks Colliery in 1824, with a pair of shafts, one for winding, and one for pumping.
It was an extremely gassy colliery, and suffered many explosions over its life. There were two in 1845, and one in 1847, which killed 73 miners, which prompted changes to the ventilation of the mine.
It was the site of the worst mining disaster in England in 1866. Over a period of ten days, there were thirteen explosions, which unfortunately resulted in the deaths of a staggering 361 miners and 27 rescuers! As a result, the shafts were infilled. There was another explosion resulting in the deaths of 9 miners in 1947.
New shafts were sunk in 1867, with a new colliery opening as the New Oaks Colliery in 1870. The Pit Head for this was located to the South East under what is now an industrial estate. The Pit Head in situ is for the No.2 Downcast Shaft, with the shaft appearing on the 1892 OS Map, labelled as part of the Rylands Main Colliery with the Pit Head further south. The workings were extensively developed, and by 1906, a Pit Head had been established around the shaft, and the colliery was renamed Barnsley Main. The No.2 Shaft was sunk to a depth of 1,536 feet, with the No.4 Upcast Shaft being 1,920 feet deep.
The No.2 Shaft was deepened beyond the Barnsley Main Seam to the Fenton Seam in 1916, with the introduction of cutting machines occuring at the same time. By 1931, the underground workings had extended into the old Oaks Colliery workings. There was another fatal explosion on the 7th May 1947, resulting in the deaths of 7 men. The site was modernised after nationalisation, with the date stone on the winding house suggesting this took place in 1956.
The site closed in 1966 as a result of an accelerated pit closure program for older pits,but was reopened in the 70s by the NCB for man-riding with coal raised at the Barrow Colliery. The colliery closed for good in 1991, with everything except the No.2 Pit Head being demolished.
The site is in the hands of a heritage group. The site was sealed by the local authority after closure to prevent vandalism, and remains well sealed, although it was accessible many moons ago, see Yorrick 's report (Here) for some cracking interior shots.
Hemingfield Colliery
Hemingfield was first established as one of a trio of mines around Elsecar under the ownership of Earl Fitzwilliam in the 1840s. It was also known as Elsecar Low, with the others being Elsecar Mid and Elsecar High. It was renowned for many engineering experiments by the influential mining engineer Benjamin Biram.
He developed an improved safety lamp, created a mechanical anemometer to measure mine ventilation and he was an early pioneer of fan based ventilation. At Hemingfield, he experimented with a hydraulically powered fan, of which two tanks remain today, likely retrieved from the bottom of one of the shafts. The Winding Shaft was also used to experiment with using lift cages, and was of a bypass design, allowing two cages to pass by each other at a widened section at the midway point. This allowed larger cages to be used.
Sinking began in 1842, encountering issues with gas and water, meaning it took until 1847 to reach the Barnsley Seam. There was a total of five shafts (four at the surface, as the two Upcasts combined on the way up) by 1865, consisting of the Engine Pit (for pumping, 468 feet deep), the Winding Shaft (468 feet deep), the Upcast Shaft (sunk 1852-53) and the Rainborough Shaft (for ventilation, sunk 1864-65, 525 feet deep).
There was an explosion on the 22nd December 1862, which killed 10 and injured 12 others. The outcome could have been significantly worse were it not for Biram's division of ventilation separately between the districts.
Coal production ceased in 1920, but the site was retained for pumping, as the Barnsley Seam in the area filled with water at an alarming rate. The pit was taken over by the South Yorkshire Pumping Association, a syndicate of 15 local collieries who's workings were affected by this water ingress. It was one of many pumping stations in the area. It became somewhat more official in 1929 with the formation of the South Yorkshire Mines Drainage Committee.
The site was passed to the NCB after nationalisation, outliving all the other collieries in the Elsecar area (Elsecar Main being last to close in 1983). In 1987 when the NCB was rebranded into the British Coal Corporation, the site was retained and managed by the Silverwood Colliery, until pumping ceased in October 1989. The site came under the ownership of RJB Mining in 1994, although it remained inactive, falling into disrepair by the early 2000s. The site was purchased by a heritage group who are working to restore what remains.
There are two Headstocks remaining on site, with both dating from the pumping era. The smaller building on site is the original Cornish Pumping Engine House, with the concrete headstock attached to it being installed in the 1920s over the Engine Pit, at the same time as installation of the electric pumping equipment underground. It was used for maintenance access, and as a rescue shaft for the Barnsley Seam.
The larger Headframe is situated over the Winding Shaft, and was erected in 1940, for the same purposes I'd imagine, as it never reopened as a working colliery.
Elsecar New Colliery
Owned by the Earl as above (This was Elsecar Mid), three shafts were sunk in 1793 to a depth of 120 feet, exploiting the Barnsley Seam with production beginning in 1795. They were later deepened to 180 feet to exploit the Parkgate Seam, with additional pumps being installed in 1823 to facilitate this.
A Newcomen-type Beam Engine was installed in 1795, which remained in service until 1923. It is still in situ today, and is the only one in existence in its original location. It's much more impressive than the ickle Headframe on site. The colliery remained open until 1853, when it was replaced by the Simon Wood Colliery.
The Headstock and Newcomen Engine form part of the Elsecar Heritage Centre, which also ran a heritage railway, although it appears to have shut down, with the track in the station having been lifted. The engine is in running condition (albeit via hydraulics), having been restored between 2012-14. I'm assuming the Headstock is a replica, I can't see one so small still being in situ 170 years after closure.
Westfield Pumping Station
The Westfield Pumping Station was owned by Earl Fitzwilliam, who as above, also owned the Elsecar series of Collieries. It was responsible for keeping water out of the Earl's pits, having been constructed in 1823.
Towards the end of the C19th, many of the smaller, shallower collieries were being abandoned, as their reserves had been worked out. Due to insufficient forward planning, and putting profit first, many of these older collieries had insufficiently sized coal barriers separating them, so as pumping ceased water levels rose, threatening to break through these barriers and inundate other workings.
This problem was a major threat to the entire South Yorkshire Coalfield, as water would be able to follow the dip of the Barnsley Seam and flood much larger collieries that were working at a much deeper level. The problem remained under control thanks to the Earl, but as his pits exhausted their reserves, pumping would cease as they closed.
To prevent this, they negotiated a settlement with the Earl to pay for the continuation of pumping in 1918. This was to be managed by the newly formed South Yorkshire Pumping Association. The purchase was completed on the 4th October 1920. Below is an excerpt from the letter written to the Earl discussing the problem, detailing the water pumped from the Westfield site.
A water level runs from Low Stubbin Colliery to the Newbiggin pumping station at Rawmarsh, a distance of about two miles, and the water thus intercepted is raised to the surface by two 15” bucket lifts, 6 feet stroke, worked by an atmospheric engine erected in the year 1823. This engine can work a maximum of 10 strokes a minute, and the quantity raised per day in winter is 270,000 gallons, and in summer 120,000 gallons, throughout the twenty-four hours, the pump working four to five hours per day in summer and eight to ten hours in winter.
I've been unable to find a depth for the shaft unfortunately. Looks like you can get inside the pump house if you climbed up, unfortunately I wasn't able to try, as it's down a residential street, and flying the drone attracted the attention of a local drunk, and it was 9am... 😂
Continued
Hatfield Colliery
Work to establish a new colliery next to the Great Central Railway's Barnsley to Barnety Line was started by the Hatfield Main Colliery Co. in 1911. The first sod was cut on the 14th October, with the No.1 Shaft being sunk to a depth of 2,579 feet by August 1916. The No.2 Shaft was sunk to a depth of 2,616 feet, and took until 1921 to complete, due to issues with water ingress. The colliery was the first in the UK to use the Francois Cementation Process, which allowed the difficulties of sinking a shaft through shifting sands and waterlogged sandstone to be overcome.
The first coal was raised in 1921 from the Barnsley Seam, utilising the shaft sinking headstocks whilst the permanent ones were constructed, with this being completed in 1922. Production continued until closure by British Coal on the 3rd December 1993. As with many collieries at this time, it was bought out, with production resuming on July 7th 1994. It opened and closed repeatedly under different companies, up until final closure on the 29th June 2015.
One of the spoil tips from the colliery suffered a slippage in February 2013, causing severe damage to 550 yards of the nearby railway line. The line was out of action until July 2013. The entire site has now been cleared and somewhat landscaped, I believe there's planning permission in place for around 500 new houses and commercial space.
No.1 Shaft -
No.2 Shaft -
The Pit Head has been retained for now at least... I believe the regeneration plans include a country park which should include the Headstocks as they're listed, but whether that becomes a reality is anyone's guess. There were workers on site in April when I paid a quick visit, but I'm unsure what they're actually doing down there, as it looks the same as it did on my first visit last year. I'd guess they're stripping out the interiors of anything valuable.
Caphouse Colliery
Caphouse Colliery (originally known as Overton Colliery) began its life in 1791 with a single shaft being sunk for James Milnes. Coal in the Flockton Thick Seam was close to the surface, with this being worked from the Caphouse Shaft until 1827, when the colliery underwent expansion under the ownership of Sir John Lister-Kaye. It was linked to the Calder and Hebble Navigation by a wooden Wagonway (later laid with rails), and the sinking of Hope Pit commenced in 1827, with this being completed in 1829 to a depth of 645 feet.
In 1840-41, the Inman Shaft was sunk to a depth of 291 feet in order to drain Hope Pit. This was done with a Cornish Beam Engine, with the Engine House still remaining in situ today. It was later deepened to the New Hards Seam.
Caphouse was a small pit, only employing 177 men underground under the NCB, due to the 11ft diameter shaft restricting winding capacity. To increase output, a conveyor drift was dug in 1974 to raise coal to the surface. The coal reserves were pretty much exhausted by the mid 1980s, with the colliery closing in October 1985.
The remaining Headframe over the Caphouse Shaft is a rare survivor, as it is wooden, dating from 1876. They were deemed a fire hazard, and new ones were not built after the 1911 Mining Act. It also retains its steam winding engine, which was a twin cylinder steam engine, manufactured by Davy Bros, which was purchased from a woollen mill in 1875 and remained in use until 1981.
Caphouse Colliery now forms the National Mining Museum of England, with two headstocks in situ (second source I compiled my list from suggests there's three, but the only other one I saw is a zipline in the children's play area, definitely not a shaft. The third shaft on site is the old upcast, which used to have a furnace at the bottom to facilitate airflow. There is an underground tour in workings at the 460 foot level.
The tour was interesting, not sure what they're using to lower the cage down to the workings, it wasn't the winding gear though. That was static, with a display showing how it worked in the old Steam Engine House. The workings are still ventilated via the Fan House situated over the old drift, which also forms an emergency escape route from the workings. Even with ventilation, the workings are still producing plenty of gas, with a monitor at the pit bottom showing the methane concentration hovering around 0.25%.
Was decent to see a Bath House in pristine condition, however, it was very small in comparison to some of the other examples I've had the pleasure of mooching around. Best thing was the lockers, as they're usually about the only thing that was stripped out when a site was abandoned. I can't find a final depth for the Caphouse Shaft unfortunately.
Skelton Ironstone Mine
A large Ironstone deposit was discovered to the north of Skelton in 1865, with plans to establish a mine quickly drawn up by the Bolckow Vaughan & Co. Ltd in order to provide iron for the smelters in nearby Middlesbrough. The plans called for a drift mine at Marske Mill, with land for the mine being leased from Squire John Thomas Wharton, the owner of Skelton Castle. The site was moved to the south east of Skelton when drainage problems scuppered efforts to establish the drift, but the North Skelton name stuck.
Work to sink a pair of shafts to a depth of 740 feet was started at Foggo Farm on the 16th February 1869. The bottom of the shafts were 400 feet below sea level resulting in difficulties with water ingress, making the undertaking difficult and expensive, but the mine finally opened in 1872. The main seam was located on 12th December 1873, with the first production tonnage being achieved in the Spring of 1874. It was the deepest mine in East Cleveland.
Water ingress increased significantly with depth, with up to 3,320 gallons per minute entering the mine at the 384 foot level. To combat this, three turbines capable of removing 1,000 gallons per minute were installed to prevent the workings from flooding.
The mine was in a remote location relative to the nearby villages, so when the mine was nearing completion in 1871, Bolckow Vaughan & Co. Ltd built 236 houses at a cost of £80 each (£7601 today) to house workers for the mine. This new settlement was named North Skelton.
The mine was most productive between 1875 and 1920, only suffering a dip in production in the late 1880s due to a downturn in the Iron and Steel Industry. In 1910, records show that four fully loaded freight trains per day were leaving Skelton for the smelters. Bolckow Vaughan & Co. Ltd also owned the nearby Longacres Mine, which worked the same deposits. In 1929, all their assets were bought up by Dorman Long & Co. In 1954, Iron was also being mined from the old workings of the Lumpsey Mine.
The mine was closed on 17th January 1964, with the site being partially cleared. The rest remains in use today, with a couple of original buildings including the Engine House which dates from 1874 remaining. The Headframe is only a miniature replica, sited just outside the mine site.
Cumbria
Florence Iron Mine
The mine here was first sunk in 1914, reaching a depth of 842 feet by the end of it's life. The mine produced a pigment for the paint, dye and cosmetics industry from the rich seams of Haematite below the service, and remained open until 13th September 1968. It was saved by the British Steel Corporation, who acquired the site in 1969. They drained the workings, linked it to the nearby Beckermet Mine and restarted production. They ran the site until the 3rd October 1980, when it was closed as part of cost cutting measures.
The site was bought out by the miners from their redundancy packages, and an agreement was put in place with British Nuclear Fuels Limited who required water for Sellafield which is nearby. BNFL covered the pumping costs, and the miners operated a small scale operation along with tours to maintain cashflow. The site finally closed in 2007 when Sellafield no longer required the water. Pumping costs were too high for the miners, so the workings were allowed to flood. It was the last Iron Mine operating in Europe.
Haig Colliery
Haig was sunk in 1914 as an expansion of the Wellington Pit workings owned by the Whitehaven Colliery Company. The shafts were sunk to a depth of 1,270 feet, with the workings eventually extending 4.5 miles out under the Irish Sea. Production commenced in 1916, and the colliery remained active until 1986.
The No.4 Shaft was the first to be used with it's Winding Engine installed in 1916. It was used for everything until 1933, subsequently being used for man-riding only. The No.5 Shaft had it's engine installed in 1923, but it didn't start winding coal until 1933, after being fully fitted out, not sure why this took so long. It hauled four 1 Ton tubs at a time, until 1983, when this was changed to a single 6 Ton skip.
The workings around Whitehaven were notoriously prone to Firedamp, with 79 miners unfortunately losing their lives over the life of Haig, with fatal explosions in 1922, 1928 and 1931.
A geological fault was encountered in 1983, jeopardising the future of the colliery. This, combined with the Miners Strikes and the political situation, saw closure on 31 March 1986, after recovery work had taken place.
The site saw use as a museum, with one Headframe (No.5 Shaft) remaining in situ. Unfortunately they ran out of money in 2016 and closed for good. It is located slightly to the North of the proposed Woodhouse Colliery, and the buildings are being used by West Cumbria Mining, as a base for exploratory drilling.
County Durham
Grove Rake Fluorspar Mine
Mining activity first took place at Grove Rake in the C18th, with large scale operations started by the Beaumont Company from 1819. They mined Ironstone until 1875, then switched to Lead, but had little success. This company was responsible for the numerous adits and the two deep shafts on the site.
The Weardale Lead Company took over the mine in the mid 1880s, and had much more success, mining significant quantities of Lead and Fluorspar. It closed in 1919, but was reopened in the 1930s to exploit the significant Fluorspar reserves, with ownership passing between numerous companies until it landed in British Steel's hands. They expanded the mine and deepened the shafts, making Grove Rake the largest Fluorspar producer in the orefield.
It was sold off to the Weardale Minerals and Processing Company in the 1980s, and changed hands again in 1991 when they went into receivership. The mine remained open until 1999. Most of the site has been demolished, with a single Headframe now remaining. The local authority failed to get a building preservation order in 2013, which is likely why most of what remained was demolished in 2016.
I'm surprised that no attempt has been made to cap off the No.2 Shaft, the No.1 is well capped -
The remaining Headframe on site belongs to the deeper of the two shafts, which I've seen referred to as the No.2 Shaft and the Whimsey Shaft, and was either 492 or 542 feet deep, dependent upon source. The Headframe was actually brought from a colliery by British Steel, which is why it's so substantial.
This beauty is still climbable, was just a case of getting the sheep to leave the fenced off area so I could climb in peace... Was very warm too as it was around midday!
The demolished one, which was situated over the 299 feet deep Drawing Shaft, was much more typical for this type of mine, similar in design to the various Lead Mine ones I've already documented around the Midlands in Part 1.
Beamish Chophill Colliery
The Winding House and Headframe were relocated from the Chophill Colliery (aka Beamish No.2 Pit or Second Pit) with the wooden Heapstead building encasing the Headframe coming from Ravensworth Park Mine. Work to move the listed structures was completed in 1976. The engine is the last of it's kind, being built by J&G Joicey of Newcastle in 1855 to an 1800 design.
Chophill Colliery opened in 1784, with the shaft being sunk to a depth of 379 feet to reach the Hutton Seam, and a borehole being sunk from the seam to a depth of 744 feet for further exploration.
The colliery was closed by the NCB on 9th November 1962, with all structures bar the Winding House and Headframe being demolished. They were saved from demolition by Frank Atkinson (the founder of Beamish) with him achieving listed status for the structures before moving them to the museum.
There is also a Sinking Engine on site, thought to be the last of it's kind. It was saved from Silkworth Colliery, and was originally built by Burlington's of Sunderland in 1868. As it's name suggests, it was used for the sinking of mine shafts.
Hatfield Colliery
Work to establish a new colliery next to the Great Central Railway's Barnsley to Barnety Line was started by the Hatfield Main Colliery Co. in 1911. The first sod was cut on the 14th October, with the No.1 Shaft being sunk to a depth of 2,579 feet by August 1916. The No.2 Shaft was sunk to a depth of 2,616 feet, and took until 1921 to complete, due to issues with water ingress. The colliery was the first in the UK to use the Francois Cementation Process, which allowed the difficulties of sinking a shaft through shifting sands and waterlogged sandstone to be overcome.
The first coal was raised in 1921 from the Barnsley Seam, utilising the shaft sinking headstocks whilst the permanent ones were constructed, with this being completed in 1922. Production continued until closure by British Coal on the 3rd December 1993. As with many collieries at this time, it was bought out, with production resuming on July 7th 1994. It opened and closed repeatedly under different companies, up until final closure on the 29th June 2015.
One of the spoil tips from the colliery suffered a slippage in February 2013, causing severe damage to 550 yards of the nearby railway line. The line was out of action until July 2013. The entire site has now been cleared and somewhat landscaped, I believe there's planning permission in place for around 500 new houses and commercial space.
No.1 Shaft -
No.2 Shaft -
The Pit Head has been retained for now at least... I believe the regeneration plans include a country park which should include the Headstocks as they're listed, but whether that becomes a reality is anyone's guess. There were workers on site in April when I paid a quick visit, but I'm unsure what they're actually doing down there, as it looks the same as it did on my first visit last year. I'd guess they're stripping out the interiors of anything valuable.
Caphouse Colliery
Caphouse Colliery (originally known as Overton Colliery) began its life in 1791 with a single shaft being sunk for James Milnes. Coal in the Flockton Thick Seam was close to the surface, with this being worked from the Caphouse Shaft until 1827, when the colliery underwent expansion under the ownership of Sir John Lister-Kaye. It was linked to the Calder and Hebble Navigation by a wooden Wagonway (later laid with rails), and the sinking of Hope Pit commenced in 1827, with this being completed in 1829 to a depth of 645 feet.
In 1840-41, the Inman Shaft was sunk to a depth of 291 feet in order to drain Hope Pit. This was done with a Cornish Beam Engine, with the Engine House still remaining in situ today. It was later deepened to the New Hards Seam.
Caphouse was a small pit, only employing 177 men underground under the NCB, due to the 11ft diameter shaft restricting winding capacity. To increase output, a conveyor drift was dug in 1974 to raise coal to the surface. The coal reserves were pretty much exhausted by the mid 1980s, with the colliery closing in October 1985.
The remaining Headframe over the Caphouse Shaft is a rare survivor, as it is wooden, dating from 1876. They were deemed a fire hazard, and new ones were not built after the 1911 Mining Act. It also retains its steam winding engine, which was a twin cylinder steam engine, manufactured by Davy Bros, which was purchased from a woollen mill in 1875 and remained in use until 1981.
Caphouse Colliery now forms the National Mining Museum of England, with two headstocks in situ (second source I compiled my list from suggests there's three, but the only other one I saw is a zipline in the children's play area, definitely not a shaft. The third shaft on site is the old upcast, which used to have a furnace at the bottom to facilitate airflow. There is an underground tour in workings at the 460 foot level.
The tour was interesting, not sure what they're using to lower the cage down to the workings, it wasn't the winding gear though. That was static, with a display showing how it worked in the old Steam Engine House. The workings are still ventilated via the Fan House situated over the old drift, which also forms an emergency escape route from the workings. Even with ventilation, the workings are still producing plenty of gas, with a monitor at the pit bottom showing the methane concentration hovering around 0.25%.
Was decent to see a Bath House in pristine condition, however, it was very small in comparison to some of the other examples I've had the pleasure of mooching around. Best thing was the lockers, as they're usually about the only thing that was stripped out when a site was abandoned. I can't find a final depth for the Caphouse Shaft unfortunately.
Skelton Ironstone Mine
A large Ironstone deposit was discovered to the north of Skelton in 1865, with plans to establish a mine quickly drawn up by the Bolckow Vaughan & Co. Ltd in order to provide iron for the smelters in nearby Middlesbrough. The plans called for a drift mine at Marske Mill, with land for the mine being leased from Squire John Thomas Wharton, the owner of Skelton Castle. The site was moved to the south east of Skelton when drainage problems scuppered efforts to establish the drift, but the North Skelton name stuck.
Work to sink a pair of shafts to a depth of 740 feet was started at Foggo Farm on the 16th February 1869. The bottom of the shafts were 400 feet below sea level resulting in difficulties with water ingress, making the undertaking difficult and expensive, but the mine finally opened in 1872. The main seam was located on 12th December 1873, with the first production tonnage being achieved in the Spring of 1874. It was the deepest mine in East Cleveland.
Water ingress increased significantly with depth, with up to 3,320 gallons per minute entering the mine at the 384 foot level. To combat this, three turbines capable of removing 1,000 gallons per minute were installed to prevent the workings from flooding.
The mine was in a remote location relative to the nearby villages, so when the mine was nearing completion in 1871, Bolckow Vaughan & Co. Ltd built 236 houses at a cost of £80 each (£7601 today) to house workers for the mine. This new settlement was named North Skelton.
The mine was most productive between 1875 and 1920, only suffering a dip in production in the late 1880s due to a downturn in the Iron and Steel Industry. In 1910, records show that four fully loaded freight trains per day were leaving Skelton for the smelters. Bolckow Vaughan & Co. Ltd also owned the nearby Longacres Mine, which worked the same deposits. In 1929, all their assets were bought up by Dorman Long & Co. In 1954, Iron was also being mined from the old workings of the Lumpsey Mine.
The mine was closed on 17th January 1964, with the site being partially cleared. The rest remains in use today, with a couple of original buildings including the Engine House which dates from 1874 remaining. The Headframe is only a miniature replica, sited just outside the mine site.
Cumbria
Florence Iron Mine
The mine here was first sunk in 1914, reaching a depth of 842 feet by the end of it's life. The mine produced a pigment for the paint, dye and cosmetics industry from the rich seams of Haematite below the service, and remained open until 13th September 1968. It was saved by the British Steel Corporation, who acquired the site in 1969. They drained the workings, linked it to the nearby Beckermet Mine and restarted production. They ran the site until the 3rd October 1980, when it was closed as part of cost cutting measures.
The site was bought out by the miners from their redundancy packages, and an agreement was put in place with British Nuclear Fuels Limited who required water for Sellafield which is nearby. BNFL covered the pumping costs, and the miners operated a small scale operation along with tours to maintain cashflow. The site finally closed in 2007 when Sellafield no longer required the water. Pumping costs were too high for the miners, so the workings were allowed to flood. It was the last Iron Mine operating in Europe.
Haig Colliery
Haig was sunk in 1914 as an expansion of the Wellington Pit workings owned by the Whitehaven Colliery Company. The shafts were sunk to a depth of 1,270 feet, with the workings eventually extending 4.5 miles out under the Irish Sea. Production commenced in 1916, and the colliery remained active until 1986.
The No.4 Shaft was the first to be used with it's Winding Engine installed in 1916. It was used for everything until 1933, subsequently being used for man-riding only. The No.5 Shaft had it's engine installed in 1923, but it didn't start winding coal until 1933, after being fully fitted out, not sure why this took so long. It hauled four 1 Ton tubs at a time, until 1983, when this was changed to a single 6 Ton skip.
The workings around Whitehaven were notoriously prone to Firedamp, with 79 miners unfortunately losing their lives over the life of Haig, with fatal explosions in 1922, 1928 and 1931.
A geological fault was encountered in 1983, jeopardising the future of the colliery. This, combined with the Miners Strikes and the political situation, saw closure on 31 March 1986, after recovery work had taken place.
The site saw use as a museum, with one Headframe (No.5 Shaft) remaining in situ. Unfortunately they ran out of money in 2016 and closed for good. It is located slightly to the North of the proposed Woodhouse Colliery, and the buildings are being used by West Cumbria Mining, as a base for exploratory drilling.
County Durham
Grove Rake Fluorspar Mine
Mining activity first took place at Grove Rake in the C18th, with large scale operations started by the Beaumont Company from 1819. They mined Ironstone until 1875, then switched to Lead, but had little success. This company was responsible for the numerous adits and the two deep shafts on the site.
The Weardale Lead Company took over the mine in the mid 1880s, and had much more success, mining significant quantities of Lead and Fluorspar. It closed in 1919, but was reopened in the 1930s to exploit the significant Fluorspar reserves, with ownership passing between numerous companies until it landed in British Steel's hands. They expanded the mine and deepened the shafts, making Grove Rake the largest Fluorspar producer in the orefield.
It was sold off to the Weardale Minerals and Processing Company in the 1980s, and changed hands again in 1991 when they went into receivership. The mine remained open until 1999. Most of the site has been demolished, with a single Headframe now remaining. The local authority failed to get a building preservation order in 2013, which is likely why most of what remained was demolished in 2016.
I'm surprised that no attempt has been made to cap off the No.2 Shaft, the No.1 is well capped -
The remaining Headframe on site belongs to the deeper of the two shafts, which I've seen referred to as the No.2 Shaft and the Whimsey Shaft, and was either 492 or 542 feet deep, dependent upon source. The Headframe was actually brought from a colliery by British Steel, which is why it's so substantial.
This beauty is still climbable, was just a case of getting the sheep to leave the fenced off area so I could climb in peace... Was very warm too as it was around midday!
The demolished one, which was situated over the 299 feet deep Drawing Shaft, was much more typical for this type of mine, similar in design to the various Lead Mine ones I've already documented around the Midlands in Part 1.
Beamish Chophill Colliery
The Winding House and Headframe were relocated from the Chophill Colliery (aka Beamish No.2 Pit or Second Pit) with the wooden Heapstead building encasing the Headframe coming from Ravensworth Park Mine. Work to move the listed structures was completed in 1976. The engine is the last of it's kind, being built by J&G Joicey of Newcastle in 1855 to an 1800 design.
Chophill Colliery opened in 1784, with the shaft being sunk to a depth of 379 feet to reach the Hutton Seam, and a borehole being sunk from the seam to a depth of 744 feet for further exploration.
The colliery was closed by the NCB on 9th November 1962, with all structures bar the Winding House and Headframe being demolished. They were saved from demolition by Frank Atkinson (the founder of Beamish) with him achieving listed status for the structures before moving them to the museum.
There is also a Sinking Engine on site, thought to be the last of it's kind. It was saved from Silkworth Colliery, and was originally built by Burlington's of Sunderland in 1868. As it's name suggests, it was used for the sinking of mine shafts.
Continued
Washington F Pit Colliery
Forming part of the New Washington Colliery near Sunderland, the F Pit was one of eight shafts serving the colliery, with each shaft denoted by a letter of the alphabet. It is thought the pit was sunk as early as 1777, with the first coal being transported by Wagonway to Sunderland.
The colliery suffered a large explosion in 1796, which resulted in a massive flood, causing it to be abandoned. The workings survived however, and were dewatered and brought back into use in 1820. It was closed again at some point after this, reopening in 1856 with the shaft being deepened to 660 feet to reach the Hutton Seam. This proved very productive, with the pit becoming one of the colliery's biggest coal outlets.
In 1903, the pithead was rebuilt, with a new layout and buildings. Electricity and pneumatic tools arrived in 1927. Under the NCB, the shaft was again deepened, reaching the Busty Seam at it's final depth of 927 feet. The colliery ceased coal production on the 21st June 1968.
The pithead is now a museum, retaining it's Headframe and Engine House, with engine in situ, and is open at limited times of the year.
That's all folks! 59 locations, covering 76 Headframes... The list I've been using is from 2016, and 4 locations with 6 Headframes have since been demolished, so I wouldn't be surprised if that number continues to fall.
I have a couple of locations to chase up, but I'm relatively confident that there is nothing there at any of them. If there is, then we may end up with a Part 5... Time will tell!
Thanks for looking everyone, much appreciated 👌🏻
Washington F Pit Colliery
Forming part of the New Washington Colliery near Sunderland, the F Pit was one of eight shafts serving the colliery, with each shaft denoted by a letter of the alphabet. It is thought the pit was sunk as early as 1777, with the first coal being transported by Wagonway to Sunderland.
The colliery suffered a large explosion in 1796, which resulted in a massive flood, causing it to be abandoned. The workings survived however, and were dewatered and brought back into use in 1820. It was closed again at some point after this, reopening in 1856 with the shaft being deepened to 660 feet to reach the Hutton Seam. This proved very productive, with the pit becoming one of the colliery's biggest coal outlets.
In 1903, the pithead was rebuilt, with a new layout and buildings. Electricity and pneumatic tools arrived in 1927. Under the NCB, the shaft was again deepened, reaching the Busty Seam at it's final depth of 927 feet. The colliery ceased coal production on the 21st June 1968.
The pithead is now a museum, retaining it's Headframe and Engine House, with engine in situ, and is open at limited times of the year.
That's all folks! 59 locations, covering 76 Headframes... The list I've been using is from 2016, and 4 locations with 6 Headframes have since been demolished, so I wouldn't be surprised if that number continues to fall.
I have a couple of locations to chase up, but I'm relatively confident that there is nothing there at any of them. If there is, then we may end up with a Part 5... Time will tell!
Thanks for looking everyone, much appreciated 👌🏻
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