Woolley Colliery: Difference between revisions
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{{ | {{Short description|Colliery in South Yorkshire, England}} | ||
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}} | |||
{{Use dmy dates|date= | |||
{{Use British English|date=February 2021}} | {{Use British English|date=February 2021}} | ||
{{Infobox UK place | {{Infobox UK place | ||
| official_name = Woolley Colliery | |||
| official_name | | local_name = Mucky Woolley | ||
| local_name | | type = [[Pit village]] | ||
| | | country = England | ||
| static_image_name | | region = South Yorkshire | ||
| static_image_caption = | | region1 = <!-- (if place extends to more than one region of England) --> | ||
| | | static_image_name = Wolley Colliery Village.jpg | ||
| | | static_image_alt = | ||
| | | static_image_caption = | ||
| | | static_image_2_name = <!-- for a second static image, such as a town crest. Use filename only (e.g. name.jpg). --> | ||
| | | static_image_2_width = <!-- allows control of the image width. Should not exceed 240 --> | ||
| post_town | | static_image_2_alt = <!-- for a description of the image per [[WP:ALT]] --> | ||
| static_image_2_caption = <!-- optional caption for static image --> | |||
| area_total_sq_mi = | |||
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| area_footnotes = | |||
| population = | |||
| population_ref = | |||
| population_density = | |||
| population_demonym = | |||
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| map_type = | |||
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| coordinates = | |||
| post_town = Barnsley | |||
| postcode_district = S75 | | postcode_district = S75 | ||
| postcode_area = S | | postcode_area = S | ||
| dial_code | | postcode_area1 = <!-- (if place extends to more than one postcode area) --> | ||
| | | postcode_area2 = | ||
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| dial_code1 = <!-- (if place has more than one dialling code) --> | |||
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| constituency_westminster = [[Barnsley Central (UK Parliament constituency)|Barnsley Central]] | |||
| constituency_westminster1 = <!-- (if place extends to more than one constituency; use link) --> | |||
| constituency_westminster2 = | |||
| constituency_westminster3 = | |||
| civil_parish = <!-- If place within a parish. Use link (e.g. [[Odd Rode]]). --> | |||
| civil_parish1 = <!-- (if place extends to another parish; use link) --> | |||
| civil_parish2 = <!-- (if place extends to another parish; use link) --> | |||
| metropolitan_borough = [[Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council|Barnsley]] | |||
| metropolitan_borough1 = <!-- (ditto) --> | |||
| metropolitan_county = <!-- (use link, e.g. [[Tyne and Wear]]) --> | |||
| metropolitan_county1 = <!-- (if place part of more than one metropolitan country) --> | |||
| shire_district = [[South Yorkshire]] | |||
| shire_district1 = <!-- (if place extends to more than one shire district) --> | |||
| shire_county = <!-- (use link, e.g. [[Devon]]) --> | |||
| shire_county1 = <!-- (if place extends to more than one shire county) --> | |||
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| lieutenancy_england = <!-- (not required where shire or metropolitan is the same) --> | |||
| lieutenancy_england1 = <!-- (if place extends to more than one lieutenancy) --> | |||
| website = <!-- Place's council or equivalent local-government website --> | |||
| hide_services = <!-- Set as "yes" (without quotemarks) to suppress inclusion of Police/Fire/Ambulance details, otherwise omit. --> | |||
}} | }} | ||
'''Woolley Colliery''' | '''Woolley Colliery''' was a coal mine sunk near [[Darton]] in the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]]. [[Coal mine]]s in the area were worked as early as 1850, and in the 1860s two rows of terrace cottages were built to accommodate miners. The [[pit village]], also named Woolley Colliery, is now in the Darton East ward of [[Barnsley Borough Council]] in [[South Yorkshire]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Darton East ID 8758|url=https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/8758.html |website=Mapit UK|access-date=6 August 2025}}</ref> The adjacent colliery site was reclaimed and is now occupied by a residential housing development named Woolley Grange which is in the [[City of Wakefield]] in [[West Yorkshire]]. | ||
==Colliery== | |||
Several coal seams outcrop on the hillside and coal had probably been mined in the area for many years, but only on a small scale until railway transport began.<ref name="R3133">{{cite book |last=Routledge |first=Paul |date=1994 |title=Scargill: the unauthorized biography |location=London |publisher=Harper Collins |pages=31–33 |isbn=0-00-638077-8}}</ref> The colliery began when two tunnels or [[adit|drifts]] were dug into the Barnsley bed seam in the hillside. Vertical shafts were sunk to reach the deeper seams. Woolley Colliery was established in 1869. It had three shafts, three seams (named Fenton, Lidgett and Thorncliffe), and five coal faces. Woolley Colliery was nationalised in 1947 and most of its coal went to the production of electricity and [[Coke (fuel)|coke]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Woolley Colliery |url=https://nmrs.org.uk/mines-map/coal-mining-in-the-british-isles/yorkshire-coalfield/barnsley/woolley/ |website=Northern Mine Research Society |access-date=25 April 2024}}</ref> The pit grew to become one of the largest in Yorkshire. In 1980 it employed 1514 men underground and 428 on the surface. In the 1960s there were three shafts in the pit yard and a fourth, for ventilation, about a mile to the east. At that time around 17,000 tons of high-quality coal were produced each week. The pit was closed in 1987 and the buildings were demolished in 1993. | |||
[[File:Woolley Colliery 1979 Darton near Barnsley NCB.jpg|thumb|Woolley Colliery in 1979]] | |||
===Miner's Strike 1984–85=== | |||
[[Arthur Scargill]] who became the leader of the [[National Union of Mineworkers (Great Britain)|NUM]], started work at the colliery in 1953, when he was 15. The pit was among the most conservative in Yorkshire, and Scargill was often in dispute with the branch leadership. He organised a strike in 1960 over the day on which union meetings were held, as he argued that these were deliberately being held at times when the sections of the workforce that were inclined to militancy were unable to attend.<ref name=R3133>{{cite book |last=Routledge |first=Paul |date=1994 |title=Scargill: the unauthorized biography |location=London |publisher=Harper Collins |pages=31–33 |isbn=0-00-638077-8}}</ref> | |||
[[ | During the [[UK miners' strike of 1984–1985]] roughly 70 per cent of the workforce at the colliery went on strike for a year,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Winterton|first1=Jonathan |last2=Winterton |first2=Ruth |title=Coal, Crisis, and Conflict: The 1984–85 Miners' Strike in Yorkshire |publisher=Manchester University Press |page=222|isbn=9780719025488 }}</ref> but the NUM branch leadership remained conservative about the use of [[flying picket]]s and union funds to help strikers.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Winterton|first1=Jonathan |last2=Winterton |first2=Ruth |title=Coal, Crisis, and Conflict: The 1984–85 Miners' Strike in Yorkshire |publisher=Manchester University Press |page=101|isbn=9780719025488 }}</ref><ref name="Relief"/> There were arguments with the lodge at North Gawber Colliery on contributions to a kitchen, as it was claimed that Woolley, which was a much larger pit, was making a minimal contribution to feeding strikers.<ref name="Relief">{{cite book |last1=Winterton|first1=Jonathan |last2=Winterton |first2=Ruth |title=Coal, Crisis, and Conflict: The 1984–85 Miners' Strike in Yorkshire |publisher=Manchester University Press |pages=123–4 |isbn=9780719025488 }}</ref> After the strike the men from North Gawber were transferred to Woolley. | ||
== | ==Pit village== | ||
Two long terraces of stone houses were built to the south of the colliery in the 1860s. This was the start of the colliery village which eventually had a village shop and the Miners Institute. Some of the terraced housing was demolished before the colliery closed.<ref name = "WGRA">{{cite web |title=The history of Woolley Colliery and Woolley Grange |url=https://woolleygrange.uk/history/ |website=Woolley Grange Residents Association |access-date=15 August 2025 }}</ref> Houses in the colliery village are in the [[Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley]] in [[South Yorkshire]].<ref>{{cite web |date=14 February 2023 |title=Agenda item – Woolley Colliery Road, Darton, Barnsley, S75 5HQ – 2022/0619 – For Approval |url=https://barnsleymbc.moderngov.co.uk/mgAi.aspx?ID=60444 |access-date=7 August 2025 |website=barnsleymbc.moderngov.co.uk }}</ref> The area was in the historic parish of Darton, in the ancient [[Staincross Wapentake]] in the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]]. The village was known locally as Mucky Woolley, a reminder of its coalmining heritage and distinguished it from the village of [[Woolley, West Yorkshire|Woolley]] two miles away. | |||
==Woolley Grange== | ==Woolley Grange== | ||
[[File:New for Old - geograph.org.uk - 405011.jpg|thumb|left|Construction of the new housing estate at the site of the former colliery]] | [[File:New for Old - geograph.org.uk - 405011.jpg|thumb|left|Construction of the new housing estate at the site of the former colliery]] | ||
After the colliery site was cleared and a housing development called Woolley Grange was built. It is adjacent to Woolley Colliery village. All local schools and amenities are in nearby Darton and [[Staincross]]. The nearest bus stop is in Woolley Colliery village.<ref>{{cite web |title=Timetable details |url=http://www.travelsouthyorkshire.com/ |access-date=27 August 2025 |website=Travel South Yorkshire }}</ref> | |||
In 2023 further housing development plans on the site of the former colliery were opposed by residents and ecologists on the grounds that the scheme would erode local identity and have an adverse effect on local wildlife.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Andrews |first1=Danielle |title=Residents of Yorkshire mining village oppose plans for 115 homes on colliery site – fearing 'loss of identity' |url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/residents-of-yorkshire-mining-village-oppose-plans-for-115-homes-on-colliery-site-fearing-loss-of-identity-4030253 |access-date=25 April 2024 |publisher=The Yorkshire Post |date=16 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Whitehouse |first1=Emily |title=Yorkshire miners oppose 115 homes plan for colliery site |url=https://newstartmag.co.uk/articles/yorkshire-miners-oppose-115-homes-plan-for-colliery-site/ |access-date=25 April 2024 |publisher=New Start Magazine |date=20 February 2023}}</ref> The proposed construction site covered a natural habitat housing a colony of [[small blue]] butterflies, with the development plans leaving only the [[Sustainable drainage system|SUDS]] undeveloped.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bull |first1=Ricki |title=Woolley Grange SUD |url=https://www.yorkshirebutterflies.org.uk/recording/transect-reports/wooley-grange-sud |website=Butterfly Conservation Yorkshire |access-date=25 April 2024}}</ref> Plans to integrate the Woolley Grange into the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley are currently underway by [[South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority|SYMCA]].<ref>{{cite web |title=South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority |url=https://www.southyorkshire-ca.gov.uk/ |access-date=27 August 2025 |website=South Yorkshire MCA }}</ref> | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
| Line 41: | Line 84: | ||
==External links== | ==External links== | ||
{{ | {{commons category|Woolley Colliery}} | ||
*[http://www.aritwoh.co.uk A website all about the community life in Woolley Colliery village] | *[http://www.aritwoh.co.uk A website all about the community life in Woolley Colliery village] | ||
Latest revision as of 21:19, 28 November 2025
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Woolley Colliery was a coal mine sunk near Darton in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Coal mines in the area were worked as early as 1850, and in the 1860s two rows of terrace cottages were built to accommodate miners. The pit village, also named Woolley Colliery, is now in the Darton East ward of Barnsley Borough Council in South Yorkshire.[1] The adjacent colliery site was reclaimed and is now occupied by a residential housing development named Woolley Grange which is in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire.
Colliery
Several coal seams outcrop on the hillside and coal had probably been mined in the area for many years, but only on a small scale until railway transport began.[2] The colliery began when two tunnels or drifts were dug into the Barnsley bed seam in the hillside. Vertical shafts were sunk to reach the deeper seams. Woolley Colliery was established in 1869. It had three shafts, three seams (named Fenton, Lidgett and Thorncliffe), and five coal faces. Woolley Colliery was nationalised in 1947 and most of its coal went to the production of electricity and coke.[3] The pit grew to become one of the largest in Yorkshire. In 1980 it employed 1514 men underground and 428 on the surface. In the 1960s there were three shafts in the pit yard and a fourth, for ventilation, about a mile to the east. At that time around 17,000 tons of high-quality coal were produced each week. The pit was closed in 1987 and the buildings were demolished in 1993.
Miner's Strike 1984–85
Arthur Scargill who became the leader of the NUM, started work at the colliery in 1953, when he was 15. The pit was among the most conservative in Yorkshire, and Scargill was often in dispute with the branch leadership. He organised a strike in 1960 over the day on which union meetings were held, as he argued that these were deliberately being held at times when the sections of the workforce that were inclined to militancy were unable to attend.[2]
During the UK miners' strike of 1984–1985 roughly 70 per cent of the workforce at the colliery went on strike for a year,[4] but the NUM branch leadership remained conservative about the use of flying pickets and union funds to help strikers.[5][6] There were arguments with the lodge at North Gawber Colliery on contributions to a kitchen, as it was claimed that Woolley, which was a much larger pit, was making a minimal contribution to feeding strikers.[6] After the strike the men from North Gawber were transferred to Woolley.
Pit village
Two long terraces of stone houses were built to the south of the colliery in the 1860s. This was the start of the colliery village which eventually had a village shop and the Miners Institute. Some of the terraced housing was demolished before the colliery closed.[7] Houses in the colliery village are in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire.[8] The area was in the historic parish of Darton, in the ancient Staincross Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The village was known locally as Mucky Woolley, a reminder of its coalmining heritage and distinguished it from the village of Woolley two miles away.
Woolley Grange
After the colliery site was cleared and a housing development called Woolley Grange was built. It is adjacent to Woolley Colliery village. All local schools and amenities are in nearby Darton and Staincross. The nearest bus stop is in Woolley Colliery village.[9]
In 2023 further housing development plans on the site of the former colliery were opposed by residents and ecologists on the grounds that the scheme would erode local identity and have an adverse effect on local wildlife.[10][11] The proposed construction site covered a natural habitat housing a colony of small blue butterflies, with the development plans leaving only the SUDS undeveloped.[12] Plans to integrate the Woolley Grange into the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley are currently underway by SYMCA.[13]
References
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External links
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