Coal Mines in Leeds

[The Parksider]

Check out the new tome "Coal mining in Middleton Woods". It's available in the Civic Trust bookshop wharfe street and because the mining was in the woods it seems the remains of early leeds mining were not obliterated by the ruling that if you mined agricultural land you had to fill your mine back in after exhausting it.The archeological Interpretation of the many paths, heaps and hollows is very interesting indeed, and it's not just a series of ancient bell pits......

[The Parksider]

Leeds most northerly coal mine is now Horsforth Colliery on Lee Lane, Three old coal pits there in 1851.Does the coal on the geological map really stretch that far Chameleon/GT.....

[grumpytramp]

The Parksider wrote: Leeds most northerly coal mine is now Horsforth Colliery on Lee Lane, Three old coal pits there in 1851.Does the coal on the geological map really stretch that far Chameleon/GT..... An excellent discovery, congratutions!I have taken a look at the 1:10,560 sheet of 1851 at Old-maps and concur. It appears from Google Earth that the spoil heaps of the most northerly of the three pits may still be in existance below shrubbery by a hedgerow!Unfortunately my BGS Sheet 70 and corresponding Memoir extends only as far west as Harrogate Road. I would hazard a guess that the coal worked must be a coal either right at the base of the Coal Measures (Soft Bed or Pot Clay) or be a coal in the underlaying Millstone Grit.I have had a wee root about and found two interesting references to mining in Horsforth. Firstly extracted from "The London and Edinburgh Philosophical magazine and Journal of Science, Vol 1, July - December 1832" extracted from a paper entitled "On the lower or ganister coal series of Yorkshire", John Philips confirms that it is likely to be workings at the very base of the coal measures. He provides a section provided to him by the late ES George from Horsforth Colliery showing 1' 4" coal sitting on 8' of "white earth" above another 1' coal.I would hazard that this is the Pot Clay Coal that was worked at HorsforthThe second reference is very tragic and is taken from "The Annual Register or a view of History, Politics and Literature for the year 1806" and records the events of January 29th 1806 Quote: About 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the earth from the roof of a coal pit, at Horsforth, near Leeds, about twenty yards deep, fell in; two men and a boy were at work in the pit; the boy was killed by the earth falling in on him; the men lived some time after and could be plainly be heard by people who flocked from every part to dig them out. One of them survived to four o'clock the next morning, at least he was never after heard. He had previously said that both his fellow sufferers were dead. No labour was spared to get them out; but as the people increased their exertions, the earth fell in more, and at last completely buried the colliers in her bowels     

[The Parksider]

grumpytramp wrote: The Parksider wrote: Leeds most northerly coal mine is now Horsforth Colliery on Lee Lane, Three old coal pits there in 1851.Does the coal on the geological map really stretch that far Chameleon/GT..... An excellent discovery, congratutions!I have taken a look at the 1:10,560 sheet of 1851 at Old-maps and concur. It appears from Google Earth that the spoil heaps of the most northerly of the three pits may still be in existance below shrubbery by a hedgerow!Unfortunately my BGS Sheet 70 and corresponding Memoir extends only as far west as Harrogate Road. I would hazard a guess that the coal worked must be a coal either right at the base of the Coal Measures (Soft Bed or Pot Clay) or be a coal in the underlaying Millstone Grit.I have had a wee root about and found two interesting references to mining in Horsforth. Firstly extracted from "The London and Edinburgh Philosophical magazine and Journal of Science, Vol 1, July - December 1832" extracted from a paper entitled "On the lower or ganister coal series of Yorkshire", John Philips confirms that it is likely to be workings at the very base of the coal measures. He provides a section provided to him by the late ES George from Horsforth Colliery showing 1' 4" coal sitting on 8' of "white earth" above another 1' coal.I would hazard that this is the Pot Clay Coal that was worked at HorsforthThe second reference is very tragic and is taken from "The Annual Register or a view of History, Politics and Literature for the year 1806" and records the events of January 29th 1806 Quote: About 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the earth from the roof of a coal pit, at Horsforth, near Leeds, about twenty yards deep, fell in; two men and a boy were at work in the pit; the boy was killed by the earth falling in on him; the men lived some time after and could be plainly be heard by people who flocked from every part to dig them out. One of them survived to four o'clock the next morning, at least he was never after heard. He had previously said that both his fellow sufferers were dead. No labour was spared to get them out; but as the people increased their exertions, the earth fell in more, and at last completely buried the colliers in her bowels      Superb stuff GT. I will have to abandon Mike Gill as my mining hero and sub you.I am looking forward to tracing the workings on foot soon.I think a book on Leeds mining that captures the social aspect rather than the staid history would be a wonderful project and I will manage that in time.Middleton Woods 1758 - "some miners in order to get through a stratum of hard stone saw fit to drill holes and fill them with gunpowder. They threw fire down from the shaft top to blast the stone. It made a report little more than a pistol shot but the blaze setting the foul air (firedamp?) produced a blaze truly shocking and the works (Gin?) at the mouth of the pit were blown to pieces"It had all the trees shaking violently and frightened the "bark pullers" (Oak bark being a tanning material).Good stuff.....

[The Parksider]

grumpytramp wrote: I would hazard a guess that the coal worked must be a coal either right at the base of the Coal Measures (Soft Bed or Pot Clay) or be a coal in the underlaying Millstone Grit. Going north from Leeds to the dales small pits produced coal as you say from coal beds in the Millstone Grit.NMRS have done a whole edition on the "Masham Collieries" which is Colsterdale.The remains out in the dales and north york moors are easier to see, and are indicative of how early coal would have been won in Leeds.I was in the old Quarries at Newlay yesterday which was a particular kind of quality Gritstone.Although Horsforth is an area extending NW of the Leeds coal measures are you saying it's probably more a southerly extension of dales coal???Threshfield Colliery in Wharfedale is a particularly good site to visit.....

[The Parksider]

grumpytramp wrote: The Parksider wrote: Leeds most northerly coal mine is now Horsforth Colliery on Lee Lane, Three old coal pits there in 1851.Does the coal on the geological map really stretch that far Chameleon/GT..... An excellent discovery, congratutions!I have taken a look at the 1:10,560 sheet of 1851 at Old-maps and concur. It appears from Google Earth that the spoil heaps of the most northerly of the three pits may still be in existance below shrubbery by a hedgerow! From the east end Lee lane stops dead as a road at Westbrook lane, but the original lane carries on into the fields as a "public footpath". Once several yards into this the old lane blossoms as a proper causey stone laid (in parts only now, but they are there) lane with stone walls either side. Local legend is this is a roman road. How do I know? A lady was taking her grandkids for a walk and I heard her say this. It's more likely the road was laid with stone for the carriage of coal into Horsforth, but let's not spoil the myth?Two pits to my left but no spoil heaps and heavily undergrowthed as the plough doesn't bother to go near the wall. A pit in the field on the right- no trace unless the plough lays bare the shale, then another one obliterated by groundworks for more sports facilities at Trinity college.Last chance to see remains lies at the West end of Lee Lane which becomes a road again to service the housing. At the junction with West end lane in the second field beyond the ditch are the remains of one of the coal pits (at last).Neat bit of trespassing into what I remember to be the P-Y-O strawberry field (old caravan and fencing still there) and the low sprawling mounds typify the remains of Georgian/early victorian coal mines. Was this the one where the miners were buried alive??No sign of coal/shale as the mounds are well vegitated now (didn't 'ave me spade). Some large lumps of sandstone that maybe the miners had to break up and shift to get through to the coal seam.Rewarding trip and GT right as 'allus.

[grumpytramp]

The Parksider wrote: Leeds most northerly coal mine is now Horsforth Colliery on Lee Lane, Three old coal pits there in 1851. Alas the pits on Lee Lane days as the most northerly of the Leeds collieries is over!Time for Parksider to do a wee bit more exploringSee http://www.british-history.ac.uk/mapshe ... 285&y=140I can see 4 coal pits marked on the 1st Series 1:10,560 OS sheet to the immediate north of Rawdon

[The Parksider]

grumpytramp wrote: The Parksider wrote: Leeds most northerly coal mine is now Horsforth Colliery on Lee Lane, Three old coal pits there in 1851. Alas the pits on Lee Lane days as the most northerly of the Leeds collieries is over!Time for Parksider to do a wee bit more exploringSee http://www.british-history.ac.uk/mapshe ... 285&y=140I can see 4 coal pits marked on the 1st Series 1:10,560 OS sheet to the immediate north of Rawdon Thanks for this, debatable (need to get mi compass) as to wether Rawdon is more northerly than Horsforth, but no matter as neither were really leeds at all.I note the pattern here. In any vliiage on the coalfield, transport costs were seemingly such that coal for local consumption was gained by just digging a hole somewhere around the village.If you overlaid a geological map with accessible near to surface coal seams over Leeds and district possibly every village in that area could have a local coal pit.Even Woodhouse saw coal dug from Woodhouse moor.Another field trip tommorrow - thanks.........

[The Parksider]

grumpytramp wrote: The Parksider wrote: Leeds most northerly coal mine is now Horsforth Colliery on Lee Lane, Three old coal pits there in 1851. Time for Parksider to do a wee bit more exploringI can see 4 coal pits marked on the 1st Series 1:10,560 OS sheet to the immediate north of Rawdon From the main road I walked up towards the wood where pit 1 is by the wall of the road. The road is remarkably very similar to Lee Lane with some causey stones lain in part and full walling either side. The area of the pit is level and overgrown. Possible converted back to agricultural land.A lovely walk across the hill and down through the field to the next two pits. Again no trace of that up the hill, but the one near the beck which croses the main road 200M down is there.It is a small clay mound with rough sandstone blocks and tiny bits of poor quality coal strewn through the clay and sandstone. It is in a field where I assume the farmers have just ploughed round it, and close to it there's a private road with new housing that leads back to the main road.From there to pit 4 - the largest depicted. You can see the site in the field from the field adjacent which is now an extension of the church graveyard. In there there's a house fronting the main road, but next to it where the pit was sited is a large lawn/garden. That could have been a second house, but perhaps they didn't want to build directly on the pit?I collected a pocket full of coal bits and just to prove them I put them in a clay pot and put my blowtorch on them. Sadly the gas ran out pretty quickly, but I will have another go. The coal didn't seem to want to light quickly, but it may have been damp, and certainly was poor quality.The idea the communities across the coalfield went out onto adjacent hills and fields to dig coal for local consumption also applies to Leeds. Martin Roe in his Middleton book noting bell pits aplenty as close as the site of the corn exchange and cloth hall street, and later many more out to quarry hill and burmantofts.Interstingly he notes the famous Briggate Bell Pit as "here ironstone had been removed from above the black bed coal, but coal had been left".............

[The Parksider]

[quotenick="grumpytramp"] The Parksider wrote: Leeds most northerly coal mine is now Horsforth Colliery on Lee Lane, Three old coal pits there in 1851.I can see 4 coal pits marked on the 1st Series 1:10,560 OS sheet to the immediate north of Rawdon Google earth to Rawdon 01.46"N 40.46"W Remaining pit in the field has been ploughed around.