Chatterley-Whitfield colliery, near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.
The date at which coal was first mined systematically in the Whitfield area is not known, but there are references to mining in the manor of Tunstall from the late 13th century onwards. A local tradition claims that the monks of the Hulton Abbey came to nearby Ridgeway during the 14th and 15th centuries, to work coal from some of the eight seams outcropping half a mile east of Whitfield. These early workings were known as 'footrails' and were driven down from the surface.
Shaw's 'History of the Potteries' tells us that in 1750, Ralph Leigh of Burslem collected coal from Whitfield twice a day. His six horses each carried between two and three hundredweights of coal along lanes which were impassable to wagons. These draughts of coal were each worth about seven pence (3p) and Leigh received one shilling (5p) a day for his services.
In 1838, Thomas Hargreaves conducted a survey and valuation of the colliery at Whitfield on behalf of its proprietors, representatives of the late William Harrison. At this time there were an engine house, coal wharf, carpenters' shop and brickworks on the site. The buildings, machinery and coal stocks were collectively values at £154 7s. 6d. (£154.37.5p).
Hugh Henshall Williamson, a local man who lived nearby at Greenway Bank Hall, was mining in the Whitfield area by 1853. His mining activities at this period are somewhat uncertain, but it is most probable that Williamson first made use of existing mining sites and shallow shafts. In 1853 it is fairly certain that he was working the Cockshead and Seven Feet Banbury seams at the Ridgeway footrails. It is also probable that he was using the Bellringer shaft, which was 79 yards deep, to work the bellringer seam, and the Ragman and Engine shafts, each 50 yards deep, to work the Ragman seam.
In 1854 the local coalmasters forced the North Staffordshire Railway Company to construct the Biddulph Valley branch line after proposing to build the railway themselves, a situation which the NSR did not favour. Work on the construction of the railway did not start until 1858, the line being partly opened for mineral traffic in 1859, and completed in 1860, passing within half a mile of Whitfield.
Anticipating the completion of the railway, Hugh Henshall Williamson sank the Prince Albert shaft to work the Holly Lane and Hardmine seams and another shaft to work both the Bowling Alley and Ten Feet seams. On the opening of the railway he immediately constructed his own rail link from the shafts at Whitfield and footrails at Ridgeway, to Chell Sidings alongside the NSR Biddulph Valley Line. Wagons loaded with coal were lowered by brake down to the sidings and horses were used to haul empty wagons back up to the colliery.
In 1963 the Ragman shaft was deepened to the Ten Feet seam at a depth of 150 yards. At this time one winding engine served the Ragman, Engine and Bellringer shafts. Coal was wound up the shafts in 8cwt. tubs hooked onto the winding rope by chains. The men were also raised and lowered in these tubs; a dangerous but common practice used before the introduction of cages.
As the coal workings became deeper, ventilation was a major problem, especially in seams giving off large quantities of the highly explosive gas methane. In 1868 the Whitfield colliers were still using candles, an obviously dangerous practice.
Hugh Henshall Williamson died in December 1867. In November of that year, just before his death, the colliery changed hands and a group known as the 'Gentlemen of Tunstall' took it over, forming the first limited liability company to operate the mine. The Whitfield Colliery Company Limited bought both the colliery and a 214 acre estate for £40,000 and a prospectus issued in 1868 indicates that the capital for the proposed company was to be £25,000.
The new owners of Whitfield immediately set about the task of improving the shafts by deepening the Engine Pit to the same level as the Ragman Pit (148 yards) and widening both shafts to accommodate two cages. each shaft was provided with its own steam winding engine and the use of the Bellringer shaft was discontinued.
The life of the Whitfield Coliery Company Limited was of limited duration, coming to an end in 1872. At about this time the Chatterley Iron Company Limited, who owned blast furnaces, an oil distilling plant and a colliery working ironstone, in the Chatterley Valley, west of Tunstall, were looking for an adequate supply of coal for its furnaces. In early 1873 Mr C J Homer, its Managing Director, purchased the Whitfield Colliery on behalf of his company. On taking over, the new owners lost no time in starting a project to develop workings in the rich Cockshead seam of coal, and in 1874 they began to widen and deepen the old Bellringer shaft to a depth of 440 yards.
Shortly after the sinking work began, the North Staffirdshire Institute of Mining Engineers made a visit to the cololiery, and to commemorate the occasion the Bellringer shaft was re-named the Institute. In 1874 the colliery company also started to widen and deepen an old shaft, originally sunk by Hugh Henshall WIlliamson in the 1850s and sited to the north-east of the Institute. This shaft was to act as the upcast for the Institute Pit and was named the Laura, after Mr C J Homer's daughter. Both shafts were completed in 1876
As the output of coal at Whitfield increased, it became necessary to improve the coal transport system. Despite opposition from the North Staffordshire Railway, the company started to construct a private railway in 1873 to run from Whitfield to Pinnox where sidings were to join up with the lower Tunstall Branch of the NS Railway. The line was finally completed in 1878 and considerably reduced the cost of transporting coal from Whitfield to the blast funaces at Chatterley.
In 1876 the company ran into serious financial difficulties. The heavy capital expenditure of the earlier years and a recession in in trade began to take their effect. To overcome this, a policy of rigorous economy was introduced and numerous small pits were closed. This policy was strongly opposed by Mr C J Homer and he resigned over the issue. However, as the economies began to take effect and the output of coal increased, the company was able to weather the storm.
Unfortunately, just as the company was recovering, it was beset by further misfortunes. In 1880, the oil distillery at Chatterley was destroyed by fire and in Feruary 1881 there was a serious fire and explosion at Whitfield. The latter fire was caused by the misuse of an underground blacksmith's furnace which resulted in an explosion, killing 24 men.
The force of the explosion caused the collapse of the Laura Pit and the entire shaft and pit top were abandoned. At the same time the Institute shaft had to be partly filled, in an effort to extinguish the fire. Later, an enquiry into the explosion was held at the nearby Norton Arms, while at Staffords Assizes the Manager, Mr Thompson, defended himself against a charge of manslaughter and was acquitted.
In an effort to recover lost output, the Middle Pit shaft (formerly the Ragman) was deepened to the Hardmine seam in 1881, and a new upcast shaft to replaec the Laura was sunk to the Cockshead seam. The latter shaft was completed in 1883 and named the Platt Pit after one of the Directors of the Company. In 1884 the company was agin beset by heavy financial difficulties and an application was made to the Court for permission for its closure. The application was eventually withdrawn, the company's affairs being placed under the control of three liquidators. One of these was the previous Company Secretary, John Renshaw Wain. It was his son, Edwards Brownfield Wain, who was to lead the Company to its 'Goldern Age'
Much of the success of the recovery can be directly attributed to Edwards Brownfield Wain, who had been appointed Undermanager in 1882. He soon introduced the more productive longwall working of the coalfaces in place of the more traditional 'pillar and stall' system. He was appointed Colliery Manager in 1886 and by 1890 the Company was once more paying its way. In the same year, the liquidators came to an understanding with the North of England Trustee, Debenture and Assets Corporation Limited of Manchester, who agreed to purchase the Old Chatterley Iron Company.
The new Company became Chatterley Whitfield Collieries Limited and a great period of expansion began. So much so that by 1899 the colliery produced in excess of 950,000 tons of saleable coal. The fortunes of the Chatterley Iron Company began to decline as a result and operations at the Chatterley site had ceased by the early part of the 20th Century. The dawn of the 20th Century, however, promised a great future for Chatterley Whitfield Colliery. It is interesting to note, however, that in the 21st Century, many local people still refer to it by its old name of Whitfield Colliery.
The colliery continued to prosper but, following a minor explosion in 1912 which fortunately resulted in no fatalities, it became obvious that additional ventilation was required. It was therefore decided to sink a new ventilation shaft and work commenced in April 1913. The shaft was 5 yards in diameter and 700 feet deep. It was completed in 1914. The heapstead and winding engine house were constructed entirely of brick to a German design and is uniquein British coalmining. It is believed that the German construction workers were interned during the First World War.
The shaft was named after the Company's Mining Engineer, Mr Robert Winstanley. As a direct result, the Prince Albert shaft, located behind the present Hesketh Shaft, and the Engine Pit, located between the newly sunk Winstanley Shaft and the Middle Pit, were closed and filled.
The Winstanley shaft was barely finished when plans werre drawn up for a new deep shaft to maintain and operate the north and south Cockshead dips which in the Institute shaft had reached a length of 2092 yards from the pit bottom.
After much consideration, the new shaft was sunk to the east of the Platt shaft and preparatory work started in 1914. Shaft sinking commenced in June 1915 and was completed by May 1917 to a depth of 640 yards. It was named after Colonel George Hesketh who was the Chairman of the Board of Directors. A massive horizontal steam winding engine, which still exists, was installed by the Worsley Mesnes company of Manchester in the Winding Engine House to become one of the principal coal winding shaft. A new power house was also constructed as part of the complex. In 1923 the original paralle drum was replaced by a bi-cylindro drum which made the winding of coal much easier
Up to 1915, all the coal at Whitfield had to be hewn from the coal face without the aid of machinery. In that year, however, electrically-driven coal cutters and compressed air shaker conveyors were introduced to help remove some of the physical work required to mine and transport the coal from the face.
In 1920 an ex-army hut provided the colliery with its first canteen facilities and work began on a new lamproom to house the heavy electric lamps which were gradually being introduced and used in addition to the conventional oil safety lamps.
The late 1920s and early 1930s were difficult times for colliery owners and miners alike. During the general strike of 1926, convoys of motor lorries travelled to Whitfield from all over the country to buy the small coal that was stocked at the Colliery. In 1929 only 193 days were worked and during the Depression 300 Whitfield miners were made redundant. North Staffordshire collieries worked on a tonnage quota system during this period and when the monthly quota had been produced they had to stop work.
By 1932 all underground haulage had been mechanised and most pit ponies taken out of the pit. Steel supports began to replace the traditional timber pit props. These originally were not universally accepted because miners complained that whereas timber supports creaked when they began to break, which acted as a waring, steel supports did not. Eventually, however, steel supports were accepted. There were also technological advances with coal cutters and conveyors which were becoming increasingly necessary as tonnage began to increase.
In 1934 a modern office block was contructed to replace the old Head Offices of the Company in Pinnox Street in Tunstall and most staff were transferred to Whitfield. Those remaining at Pinnox Street dealt with the transfer of loaded and unloade trains to the North Staffordshire Railway in Tunstall. This also brought to an end the Saturday 'Pay Train' whereby the wages were taken from Pinnox Street to Whitfield for payment on Saturday afternoon. The Colliery pay week was from Wednesday to Tuesday.
At the same tiime, a new fitting and electric shop replaced the old one under the Middle Pit Power House which had become inadequate. In 1938 a new boiler house containing twelve Lancashire boilers fueled by pulverised coal and considered to be one of the best in Britain was brought into use. In the same year, the Pithead Baths, containing 3,817 'clean' and 3,817 'dirty' lockers, and canteen were brought into use.
The 1930s were momentous for Whitfield because not only were there over 4,000 men employed, but in 1937 it became the first colliery in Britain to mine one million saleable tons in one year, a feat it also achieved in 1938.
From 1938 onwards and during the Second World War, there was little change until the mines were Nationalised in 1947.
After 1947 a policy of modernisation took place throughout the whole mining industry. In 1952 mine cars and locomotive haulage were introduced underground at Whitfield and a new mine car circuit installed on the surface. The building to accomodate this is still standing.
With the advent of cheap oil supplies from abroad in the late 1950s, contraction in the coalmining industry began to take place. The collieries most affected by this were the older ones where the best coal had been worked out and at which it was dificult to mine coal economically. Chatterley Whitfield was one of the victims of this period, output declining from over one million tons per year in 1937 to 408,000 tons in 1965.
Coal drawing stopped at the Institute shaft in 1955 and the Middle Pit in 1968. In 1974 it was decided that Whitfield coal could be more easily worked from Wolstanton Colliery and an underground roadway was driven to join the two pits. In 1976 coal drawing at Chatterley Whitfield came to an end.
Two years later, a Trust was formed to establish the Chatterley Whitfield Mining Museum.
The Musem operated for twelve years, but finally closed in August 1991.
www.chatwhitfriends.org.uk/index.htm
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Danger of Death! Now an industrial graveyard. Tens of millions of tons of coal were mined here over a period of 155 years until its closure in 1977.
Chatterley Whitfield is recognised as the most complete surviving colliery complex in England, and includes 34 individually listed buildings and structures. The colliery is famous for a number of superlatives; it was the first to extract 1 million tons of coal per year, it had the biggest spoil heap in the world, and at the peak of production, employed more than 4,000 men. The colliery was a key element of both the industrial archaeology and the social context of North Staffordshire and the nationalised coal industry until its closure in 1977. It remains an important visual landmark and was designated by English Heritage as a Scheduled Ancient Monument in 1993.
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(Chatterley) Whitfield is an iconic coal mine. Although the museum closed down decades ago it is still one of the best preserved anywhere. There's alot of history, and this weekend the "Friends of Chatterley Whitfield" had an open weekend organising 90 minute tours of the site. There's no more going down the shafts and it is deemed too dangerous for normal people to go in so many of the buildings. It's a shame the investment was not maintained to keep the museum alive but the "Friends of Chatterley Whitfield" are working hard to re-organise all the colliery history and open it up for tours, which are normally only organised for one day each year. I've spent years walking outside the outer, very well maintained, security fences, taking what shots I could, and it was great to see a little bit more yesterday. The thing that stuck out in my mind was that they measure the depth of the mine in yards. Now that the mine is not being pumped out the water level in the shafts has risen to the natural water table only about 10 yards below the surface. But if you had a suitable mini-submarine you could go roughly 1000 yards down ( 1 yard = 0.9144 metres) to where the men used to work.
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Teasels are probably most commonly known for their brown, prickly stems and conical seed heads which persist long after the plants themselves have died back for the winter. Between July and August, when Teasels are in flower, the spikey flower heads are mostly green with rings of purple flowers. Found in damp grassland and field edges, or on disturbed ground, such as roadside verges and waste grounds, Teasels are visited by bees when in flower, and birds when seeding
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At the entrance to Chatterley-Whitfield stand three coal wagons
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