Corporate Loscoe; Ormonde Colliery; 1908-1970; coal mine DS/UK/3460 Ormonde Colliery Butterley Co. Ltd 1908-1970 coal mine Loscoe

The estates of the late Marquess of Ormonde in the Codnor and Loscoe area were allowed by Act of Parliament to be put up for sale in 1824 and the mineral rights for some land was purchased by the Butterley Company. Two pits were sunk for coal in 1825 which were officially called Ormonde Collieries, although more enerally called Cupits Green Collieries. Workings at these mines stopped in 1871. In 1908 new shafts were sunk by the Butterley Company to work several coal seams, namely, Kilburn, Mickley, Ashgate, Blackshale, Silkstone, Low Main, Piper and Roof Soft. Originally han got and hand loaded, coal cutting machinery was introduced in the early 1930s, with the first conveyors being introduced in 1938. When nearby Bailey Brook closed in 1942, the steel headgear was transferred to Ormonde to replace the older wooden headgear there. There was a large onsite powerhouse and boiler plant, as well as a central ventilation station, which covered Ormonde, Bailey Brook and Loscoe collieries. In 1947 Ormonde Colliery was taken over by the National Coal Board as a result of the nationalisation of the coal industry. Further mechanisation took place, and the site was upgraded many times, including pithead baths in 1954 and a coal preparation plant in 1966. After the closure of nearby New Langley Colliery in 1960, the underground workings were merged. In 1963, the pit trialled a Remotely Operated Longwall Face in the hopes of automating work at the coal face, an experiment which led the way for automation and remote control in the country as a whole. This was one of several experiments which took place at Ormonde in the 1960s, as the NCB seems to have used it primarily to trial innovative new processes and developments. It was not long, however, before the coal reserves ran out, and the decision was taken to close the colliery in 1970. KEY EVENTS 1908: new shafts sunk Feb 1960: merged with New Langley Colliery Sep 1970: closed Yes Bell, D., Memories of the Derbyshire Coalfields (Newbury: Countryside Books, 2006) Butterley Co. Ltd., Promotional Guide for Colliery Department (early 20th century), in N5/399 Butterley Company through Nine Reigns (1953) Durham Mining Museum, Butterley Co. Ltd. http://www.dmm.org.uk/company/b1012.htm Ormonde Colliery 1908-1970, NCB booklet 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) DERBYSHIRE\a7005277 19/06/2020 DERBYSHIRE\71041338 10/09/2026 bd400c13-c02c-495f-8302-af5873e1a707