Pleasley Colliery
Encyclopedia
Pleasley Colliery is a former English
coal mine. It is located to the NW of Pleasley
village which sits astride the River Meden
on the Nottinghamshire
/Derbyshire
border.
The colliery is located to the NW of Pleasley
village which sits astride the River Meden
on the Nottinghamshire
/Derbyshire
border. It lies 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Mansfield
and 9 miles (14.5 km) south of Chesterfield
. From the south it commands a prominent position on the skyline, although less so now than when the winders were in operation and both chimney stacks were in place. The colliery is situated at about 500 ft (152m) above sea level and is aligned on a NE-SW axis following the trend of the river valley at this point.
The grounds are now a nature reserve consisting of footpaths and lakes. The colliery is currently (2010) undergoing renovation to transform it into a mining museum.
Pleasley Colliery is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument
and is in the process of being developed into a mining heritage site. The engine-house roofs and the chimney have been renovated and the winders are in the process of being restored by members of the Friends of Pleasley Pit preservation group.
. (Florence is reputed to have “turned the first sod” at the commencement of sinking). William (née Shore) was lord of the manor of Pleasley, having bought the manor in 1823 for £38,000. He died in a tragic accident in 1874 and the manor passed to his other daughter, Parthenon, the wife of Sir Harry Verney
. A large field on the brow of the hill overlooking the River Meden valley was chosen and work soon started on leveling the site and preparing the surface infrastructure and access roads.
During 1873 sinking commenced at the two 14.5 ft. diameter shafts and the engine-houses were constructed ready for the installation the following year of two pairs of steam winding engines built by the Worsley Mesnes
Iron Co. The sinking soon ran into difficulties, however, due to the high volumes of water encountered in the first 150 yd. This coincided with the onset of a serious depression in the iron and coal trade and progress was halted for four to five months. In order to deal with the large feeders of water encountered, four 18in. diameter pumps were installed in the No. 1 shaft and sinking at the No.2 shaft was discontinued. The subsequent impact of the pumping was considerable, with wells and springs over a wide radius drying up and the water disappearing from the Mansfield quarries almost 3 miles away.
In order to hold back the water, the shaft had to be lined for about 115 yds with cast-iron tubbing, a slow and expensive operation. When sinking was resumed below this, the strata was much drier and most of the pumping equipment was removed. Sinking proceeded without further problems and the Top Hard seam was eventually reached in February 1877. The pumps were then installed in No. 2 shaft and sinking was resumed there. Similar volumes of water were encountered and this shaft also required the installation of a similar length of tubbing. Later that year, in order to raise further capital, the Stanton Iron Co. decided to incorporate as a limited company and, early in 1878, 5752 shares were issued. The sinking headframes were then removed and the main headstocks erected. By the end of the year, the fitting-out work above and below ground was approaching completion and when the Top Hard seam was finally reached in No. 2 shaft in February 1879 the Directors could report that the sinking had been completed and that production was ready to commence.
which had been in operation since 1868.
In 1888, production had increased to such an extent that the main winding shaft had reached its maximum capacity. The upcast shaft was then fitted out for coal winding and output continued to climb. By 1890, with output averaging 1000 tons per day, the underground haulage of coal by ponies had become unsustainable and a 60HP electrically driven underground rope-haulage system, the first of its kind, was installed near the downcast pit bottom to haul coal up the 1 in 12 roadway from the North dip workings. During the next seven years, a further four electrically driven rope haulages were installed, freeing up 44 horses and raising output to 1700 tons per day.
Over the next two decades, many changes took place on the surface. In 1904 the drum shaft on the downcast shaft winder fractured and a new, more powerful winder was installed. Older boilers were replaced, more powerful fans were installed, new screening plant erected and turbine generators running off the exhaust steam from the winders were commissioned. Finally, in 1919, work commenced on deepening the upcast shaft.
Three districts in the 3 ft thick Deep Hard seam were commenced, but the ensuing recession appears to have made it uneconomic and production ceased in 1927, all output then being concentrated on the Top Hard seam, the workings of which were now becoming quite extensive. By this time, most of the coal to the north of the river Meden had been worked out and production shifted to the reserves to the south. By the late 1930s, however, these reserves were diminishing, and exploratory investigation began of two underlying seams, the Dunsil and 1st Waterloo.
In 1938, 1,261 men were employed underground and a further 283 on the surface. Electric coal cutters had been in use since the early 1900s, but the coal was still being hand loaded, although now onto conveyor belts on the coal face rather than directly into tubs. The new seams were considerably thinner than the 5 ft thick Top Hard and it was anticipated that a larger quantity of small coal would be created. In order to process this, a 150 ton per hour washery plant was constructed a few hundred yards to the south-west. This plant was to play a key role in subsequent years when mechanized loading was introduced and the demand for small coal for power generation soared.
, the development of the Dunsil and 1st Waterloo seams accelerated and, once again, the Deep Hard seam was revisited. Manpower was in short supply, though. In 1945, although there were still 281 men on the surface, there were only 895 underground. Now, however, Huwood power loaders were being deployed on the coal face and the washery plant really began to earn its keep. In the late 1940s, following nationalisation, a major development program was begun. Tubs were replaced by 3 ton mine-cars and on the surface, compact circuits were constructed, with fully automatic pneumatic systems controlling their movement and emptying.
At the downcast shaft, a complete new pit-bottom and mine-car haulage system was constructed in the deeper 2nd Waterloo seam, with the shaft itself being deepened by driving up from below, whilst in the upcast pit-bottom, a compact mine-car circuit was constructed, with the coal now being transported almost to the shaft-side by powerful trunk conveyor belts.
In 1951, the last face in the Top Hard seam finished, more than three miles traveling distance south of the pit bottom, but the main output from the downcast shaft had already moved to the Dunsil and 1st Waterloo seams. At this time, the Dunsil was being worked to the south-east of the shaft, whilst the 1st Waterloo workings were to the north-west. Meanwhile, in the Deep Hard seam, whilst redevelopment proceeded, production was focused on the north side.
At about this time, cross-measure drifts were also being driven down to the underlying Piper seam to the south of the pit-bottom and a new face was headed out. This face advanced below the earlier workings in the Deep Hard until it had reached a position beyond their final working point. Near to the pit-bottom, the Piper seam was separated from the Deep Hard by about 10yds but as the face moved out, the distance decreased until they were separated by only a short distance. At this point short drifts were driven up into the Deep Hard and new faces were then opened out back in this seam and within a short distance they were working a combined thickness of coal of about 2 – 2.5 m. Two other faces had been opened out closer to the pit-bottom in the Piper, but no further development took place in that seam except for a parallel one running back towards the pit-bottom.
By this time, production had ceased both in the Dunsil and 1st Waterloo seams and in the Deep Hard north-side districts. All subsequent output now came from the combined Deep Hard / Piper workings to the south-east. Although the projected output was high, the surface infrastructure at Pleasley was now feeling its age, and with the sinking of a large surface drift and the construction of new coal processing plant at nearby Shirebrook
colliery it was decided to switch all output to there. With the cessation of coal-winding at Pleasley, the colliery had breathed its last, but it received a sort of artificial respiration by being used for man-riding and materials until eventual closure in 1983.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
coal mine. It is located to the NW of Pleasley
Pleasley
Pleasley is a small village in between the nearby towns of Chesterfield and Mansfield, it is 8 km south east of Bolsover, Derbyshire, England and 4 km north west of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire...
village which sits astride the River Meden
River Meden
The River Meden is a river in Nottinghamshire, England. Its source lies just north of Huthwaite, near the Derbyshire border, and from there it flows north east through Pleasley and Warsop before merging temporarily with the River Maun near Bothamsall...
on the Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
/Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
border.
The colliery is located to the NW of Pleasley
Pleasley
Pleasley is a small village in between the nearby towns of Chesterfield and Mansfield, it is 8 km south east of Bolsover, Derbyshire, England and 4 km north west of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire...
village which sits astride the River Meden
River Meden
The River Meden is a river in Nottinghamshire, England. Its source lies just north of Huthwaite, near the Derbyshire border, and from there it flows north east through Pleasley and Warsop before merging temporarily with the River Maun near Bothamsall...
on the Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire
Nottinghamshire is a county in the East Midlands of England, bordering South Yorkshire to the north-west, Lincolnshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south, and Derbyshire to the west...
/Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
border. It lies 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Mansfield
Mansfield
Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....
and 9 miles (14.5 km) south of Chesterfield
Chesterfield
Chesterfield is a market town and a borough of Derbyshire, England. It lies north of Derby, on a confluence of the rivers Rother and Hipper. Its population is 70,260 , making it Derbyshire's largest town...
. From the south it commands a prominent position on the skyline, although less so now than when the winders were in operation and both chimney stacks were in place. The colliery is situated at about 500 ft (152m) above sea level and is aligned on a NE-SW axis following the trend of the river valley at this point.
The grounds are now a nature reserve consisting of footpaths and lakes. The colliery is currently (2010) undergoing renovation to transform it into a mining museum.
Timeline
It was sunk in the 1870s and produced coal until 1983. By some miracle it escaped complete demolition after closure and it still retains its headstocks, engine-houses and steam winders, one of which was installed in 1904 by Lilleshall Co. Ltd. and the other in 1922 by Markham & Co. Ltd.Markham & Co.
Markham & Co. is an ironworks and steelworks company near Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England.- History :The Victoria Foundry near Chesterfield, Derbyshire was owned and successfully run by father and son partnership John and William Oliver from the mid-1850s until 1862 when, following the death of...
Pleasley Colliery is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a 'nationally important' archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorized change. The various pieces of legislation used for legally protecting heritage assets from damage and destruction are grouped under the term...
and is in the process of being developed into a mining heritage site. The engine-house roofs and the chimney have been renovated and the winders are in the process of being restored by members of the Friends of Pleasley Pit preservation group.
1872-1879
In 1872 a lease for the extraction of coal from the Top Hard seam, together with the construction and operation of a colliery, was granted to the Stanton Iron Company by William Edward Nightingale, the father of the famous Victorian nursing pioneer, Florence NightingaleFlorence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
. (Florence is reputed to have “turned the first sod” at the commencement of sinking). William (née Shore) was lord of the manor of Pleasley, having bought the manor in 1823 for £38,000. He died in a tragic accident in 1874 and the manor passed to his other daughter, Parthenon, the wife of Sir Harry Verney
Sir Harry Verney, 2nd Baronet
Sir Harry Verney, 2nd Baronet PC, DL, JP was an English soldier and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons variously between 1832 and 1885.-Background and education:...
. A large field on the brow of the hill overlooking the River Meden valley was chosen and work soon started on leveling the site and preparing the surface infrastructure and access roads.
During 1873 sinking commenced at the two 14.5 ft. diameter shafts and the engine-houses were constructed ready for the installation the following year of two pairs of steam winding engines built by the Worsley Mesnes
Worsley Mesnes
Worsley Mesnes is a mainly residential area of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.Locally, the name is pronounced ....
Iron Co. The sinking soon ran into difficulties, however, due to the high volumes of water encountered in the first 150 yd. This coincided with the onset of a serious depression in the iron and coal trade and progress was halted for four to five months. In order to deal with the large feeders of water encountered, four 18in. diameter pumps were installed in the No. 1 shaft and sinking at the No.2 shaft was discontinued. The subsequent impact of the pumping was considerable, with wells and springs over a wide radius drying up and the water disappearing from the Mansfield quarries almost 3 miles away.
In order to hold back the water, the shaft had to be lined for about 115 yds with cast-iron tubbing, a slow and expensive operation. When sinking was resumed below this, the strata was much drier and most of the pumping equipment was removed. Sinking proceeded without further problems and the Top Hard seam was eventually reached in February 1877. The pumps were then installed in No. 2 shaft and sinking was resumed there. Similar volumes of water were encountered and this shaft also required the installation of a similar length of tubbing. Later that year, in order to raise further capital, the Stanton Iron Co. decided to incorporate as a limited company and, early in 1878, 5752 shares were issued. The sinking headframes were then removed and the main headstocks erected. By the end of the year, the fitting-out work above and below ground was approaching completion and when the Top Hard seam was finally reached in No. 2 shaft in February 1879 the Directors could report that the sinking had been completed and that production was ready to commence.
1881-1890
Although the depression in the coal trade continued for a number of years, output from Pleasley began to steadily increase, thanks to its freedom from serious geological problems. A 25 ft. fault was soon encountered a short distance to the north-east but the workings to the north and west were fault free. In 1881 electric lighting of the pit bottom and the coal face was demonstrated to the Royal Commission on Accidents in Mines by the electrical engineer R.E.B. Crompton. By October of that year the monthly output was about 9600 tons and by August the following year it had risen to 13,000 tons. Two years later, the figure for August stood at 17,250 tons, outstripping that of Stanton Iron Co.’s first colliery at TeversalTeversal
Teversal is a small village in the Ashfield district of Nottinghamshire, England, located 3 miles west of Mansfield, close to the Derbyshire border. Former names include Tevershalt, Teversholt, Tyversholtee, Teversale, Tevershall and Teversall. Teversal was the home of the fictional Lady Chatterley...
which had been in operation since 1868.
In 1888, production had increased to such an extent that the main winding shaft had reached its maximum capacity. The upcast shaft was then fitted out for coal winding and output continued to climb. By 1890, with output averaging 1000 tons per day, the underground haulage of coal by ponies had become unsustainable and a 60HP electrically driven underground rope-haulage system, the first of its kind, was installed near the downcast pit bottom to haul coal up the 1 in 12 roadway from the North dip workings. During the next seven years, a further four electrically driven rope haulages were installed, freeing up 44 horses and raising output to 1700 tons per day.
1899-1919
By 1899, despite encountering a second fault and a large washout to the south-west, output was such that the winding capacity had been reached at the upcast shaft and it was decided to install a more powerful winder and boilers whilst at the same time replacing the old wooden headstock which was now in a poor condition. This work was carried out in 1900, with all production temporarily shifted to the downcast shaft by means of two shift working. The following year, owing to the very poor condition of the old timber frame, the headstock at the downcast shaft was also replaced, although this time it was pre-erected on the pit-top and then winched into position.Over the next two decades, many changes took place on the surface. In 1904 the drum shaft on the downcast shaft winder fractured and a new, more powerful winder was installed. Older boilers were replaced, more powerful fans were installed, new screening plant erected and turbine generators running off the exhaust steam from the winders were commissioned. Finally, in 1919, work commenced on deepening the upcast shaft.
1921-1938
In 1921 the deepening was completed and the opening-out of the Deep Hard seam begun. In order to wind from this seam a much larger winder was installed requiring the engine-house to be completely rebuilt to accommodate it. The steam plant was consolidated into a single range of boilers, and a new power-house containing a large mixed-pressure turbine generator was constructed.Three districts in the 3 ft thick Deep Hard seam were commenced, but the ensuing recession appears to have made it uneconomic and production ceased in 1927, all output then being concentrated on the Top Hard seam, the workings of which were now becoming quite extensive. By this time, most of the coal to the north of the river Meden had been worked out and production shifted to the reserves to the south. By the late 1930s, however, these reserves were diminishing, and exploratory investigation began of two underlying seams, the Dunsil and 1st Waterloo.
In 1938, 1,261 men were employed underground and a further 283 on the surface. Electric coal cutters had been in use since the early 1900s, but the coal was still being hand loaded, although now onto conveyor belts on the coal face rather than directly into tubs. The new seams were considerably thinner than the 5 ft thick Top Hard and it was anticipated that a larger quantity of small coal would be created. In order to process this, a 150 ton per hour washery plant was constructed a few hundred yards to the south-west. This plant was to play a key role in subsequent years when mechanized loading was introduced and the demand for small coal for power generation soared.
1945-1951
After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the development of the Dunsil and 1st Waterloo seams accelerated and, once again, the Deep Hard seam was revisited. Manpower was in short supply, though. In 1945, although there were still 281 men on the surface, there were only 895 underground. Now, however, Huwood power loaders were being deployed on the coal face and the washery plant really began to earn its keep. In the late 1940s, following nationalisation, a major development program was begun. Tubs were replaced by 3 ton mine-cars and on the surface, compact circuits were constructed, with fully automatic pneumatic systems controlling their movement and emptying.
At the downcast shaft, a complete new pit-bottom and mine-car haulage system was constructed in the deeper 2nd Waterloo seam, with the shaft itself being deepened by driving up from below, whilst in the upcast pit-bottom, a compact mine-car circuit was constructed, with the coal now being transported almost to the shaft-side by powerful trunk conveyor belts.
In 1951, the last face in the Top Hard seam finished, more than three miles traveling distance south of the pit bottom, but the main output from the downcast shaft had already moved to the Dunsil and 1st Waterloo seams. At this time, the Dunsil was being worked to the south-east of the shaft, whilst the 1st Waterloo workings were to the north-west. Meanwhile, in the Deep Hard seam, whilst redevelopment proceeded, production was focused on the north side.
1957-1983
In 1957 Pleasley saw the launch of a short enclosed tunnel carrying the trunk conveyor from the main intake airway through into a return airway close to the pit-bottom. With typical mining humour, it was christened Sputnik by the men. What its official name was has been long forgotten.At about this time, cross-measure drifts were also being driven down to the underlying Piper seam to the south of the pit-bottom and a new face was headed out. This face advanced below the earlier workings in the Deep Hard until it had reached a position beyond their final working point. Near to the pit-bottom, the Piper seam was separated from the Deep Hard by about 10yds but as the face moved out, the distance decreased until they were separated by only a short distance. At this point short drifts were driven up into the Deep Hard and new faces were then opened out back in this seam and within a short distance they were working a combined thickness of coal of about 2 – 2.5 m. Two other faces had been opened out closer to the pit-bottom in the Piper, but no further development took place in that seam except for a parallel one running back towards the pit-bottom.
By this time, production had ceased both in the Dunsil and 1st Waterloo seams and in the Deep Hard north-side districts. All subsequent output now came from the combined Deep Hard / Piper workings to the south-east. Although the projected output was high, the surface infrastructure at Pleasley was now feeling its age, and with the sinking of a large surface drift and the construction of new coal processing plant at nearby Shirebrook
Shirebrook
Shirebrook is a town in the Bolsover district of north-east Derbyshire on the border with Nottinghamshire, England. At the 2001 UK Census it had a population of 9,291 , 10,412...
colliery it was decided to switch all output to there. With the cessation of coal-winding at Pleasley, the colliery had breathed its last, but it received a sort of artificial respiration by being used for man-riding and materials until eventual closure in 1983.