Image ID: 24425

Brinsley Colliery

Brinsley Colliery
Brinsley
England

The twin headstocks of Brinsley Colliery towering above the workings. Coal has been mined in the Eastwood area for nearly 700 years. Originally, the monks of Beauvale Priory held the coal mining rights and there may have been shallow workings dating further back to Roman times. By the 1870s the good quality 'top hard' coal at Brinsley had been almost exhausted and a second shaft was sunk in 1872 to a depth of 780 feet. The 'tandem' headstocks, seen in this picture, were erected at this time. Each cage was suspended from a steel cable and held six men. At its peak of production the colliery produced around 500 tons of coal a day and employed 361 men, 282 of whom worked at the coal faces. By 1930, coal reserves had been exhausted but the shafts were kept open until 1970 to access neighbouring pits. The Brinsley Colliery site has now been landscaped and turned into a picnic area. The headstocks were restored, and returned to their original site. This photograph was taken by the Rev. F W Cobb (1872-1938), who was Rector of Eastwood from 1907 to 1917. Many of his photographs were taken under extremely difficult and dangerous conditions and combine to make a remarkable contribution to mining history during the early part of the 20th century.

Organisation:

Rate this image:

Keywordscoalminingcollieryindustrialindustryheadstockstwinwagonstracksmachinery

Eastwood Library