Corporate DS/UK/3458 Killamarsh; Norwood Colliery; 1865-1943; coal mine Norwood Colliery Sheepbridge Coal & Iron Company Ltd (1865-1916) J&G Wells Ltd (1916-1943) coal mine 1865-1943 Killamarsh Killamarsh Holbrook No. 2 Colliery

The colliery was first sunk by the Sheepbridge Coal & Iron Company between 1865 and 1866. The coal seam was finally reached in 1867. It worked the Top Hard, Deep Soft and Deep Hard coal seams. By 1869 the site was producing 400 tons of coal a day and was soon producing double that number. An onsite gas works was built in 1872 to provide power to the colliery and neighbouring residential properties. A strike in 1885 led to the company being unsuccessfully sued by a collier named W. Sargeson for a loss of earnings. At one point the colliery also had 56 pit ponies working here. At the time of its first closure in 1914, 390 men were still in employment here. Some of the coal seams lay underneath the Chesterfield Canal, which meant there were water problems, but these were solved by installing modern pumping technology. Following a fatal gas explosion, a new ventilation system was also installed. In 1916, it was brought by J & G Wells Ltd. From then on it was known as Holbrook No. 2 Colliery. The highest recorded manpower was in 1933 with 772 men employed. Whilst coal was still being mined on the site, its main purpose had shifted to ventilation. A small scale drift mine was added south to the colliery. It eventually closed for good in 1943. Known managers: William Wilde, TA Elliott, JW Tankard, WL Halpin, HL Faulkner, WH Burgin, Henry Burgin (twice), Thomas Greensmith, Arthur Hayes, Henry Kendall, E Thompson, George Walker International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Derbyshire Record Office Collections Manual Section 7 v5.1 (May 2020) ‘History of Mining in Killamarsh’, http://www.killamarsh.org/history/ ‘Norwood Colliery’, http://www.oldminer.co.uk/norwood.html ‘Norwood Colliery Closed After 77 Years’, http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/individual/Bob_Bradley/Bk-3/B3-1943.html Bridgewater, A. N., North Derbyshire Collieries (2009) https://www.aditnow.co.uk/documents/Doe-Lea-Coal-Mine/North20Derbyshire20Collieries20Small20Update.pdf Sutcliffe, A. F., Surveyor’s Report for J & G Wells LTD, 18th Aug 1908 Wain, K., The Coal Mining Industry of Sheffield and North Derbyshire (Amberley, 2014) Yes DERBYSHIRE\a7005277 19/06/2020 DERBYSHIRE\71072486 10/02/2022 75d5b125-f5e9-406b-9ed0-c60c2cf7d7e9