|
Local Mine
Information Page 4 (see
also timelines)
|
All of the local
heaths and commons saw colliery activity at one time or another,
usually by means of bell pits, one of the earliest forms of mining.
Crown Pit
Located
on A420 near Midland Spinner Pub, Warmley. Some
buildings remain. The engine house shown here in
the 1960's was
rebuilt in the early years of the 20th
century in
the hope of re-opening the mines.
|
mouseover
for 2004 view
|
The remains of the Crown Colliery are one of the best examples
of later mining activity in the Kingswood coal fields. Coal mining here was
probably started centuries before and the ancient field name of ’Pickpocked’
described very poor, disturbed ground. This gives credence to the industry which
scoured the upper seams for its coal and deposited waste material on top of the
soil.
When horse and then steam winding engines were introduced,
multiple pits gave way to deep shafts and long galleries which followed the
seams of coal. William Champion’s
demand for coal in the mid 18th century saw a surge of activity locally and
Crown Colliery, with its close proximity to Warmley Tower, would have provided
much of its supplies.
In the early 19th century there were three horse
gin pits at Crown Colliery and by the middle of the last century they had been
replaced by a single Engine House working two pits, one to the rear of
Hembrough’s yard and the other across the road.
An
early artist's impression of Crown Pit
Note the position
of original engine house, set back much further
from the road than the replacement shown at the
top of the page.
A variety of owners controlled Crown Colliery
throughout the 19th century including George Davidson of Warmley House and
Gabriel Goldney. The pit closed in 1888 removing employment for upward of 100
local people.
Many of the miners who had been employed in Crown Collieries found themselves working below ground in the
Cowhom Hill Pit. The colliery was connected by coal seams to Coronation Pit at
Cadbury Heath Road, and to California Pit at Longwell Green. The
pit reopened briefly at the turn of the century
when an attempt
was made to drain the flooded shafts at the lower end using the new engine house
and stack to power the pumps. The plan was also to drive a drift mine from Webbs
Heath to work the seams from both ends. Unfortunately the Webbs Heath shaft was
driven in at the wrong angle and in the wrong place so the project had to be
abandoned in January 1901.
Attempts were made to reopen the Warmley pits in
1912/13 and again in 1919 but the seam stretched under Midland Railway property,
making the project unfeasible. It must be noted that thousands of tons of
unclaimed coal still remain where it was formed millions of years ago. More information on any local mine workings is
urgently required. (dates of operation, photo's
etc.) Use the link at foot of this page.
|
