| Administrative History | Two shafts were sunk to the Stockings Seam several hundred yards to the west of Castle Gresley. Minerals were leased beneath 826 acres extending from Church Gresley to Linton and Caldwell under lands belonging to Morris Richardson, Colonel Milligan and the John Port Trustees. Although it had six workable seams at its disposal, it proved difficult to work with the seams being badly contorted and faulted in many places with sponatneous combustion an ever-present problem. In 1888 work was suspended temporarily due to flooding, but it resumed after costly pumping and repairs in 1889. The colliery and its brickworks were offered for sale in 1898, but having received no offers the colliery closed in 1899. The company's leases and mines were acquired by the Moira Company early in the 20th century, some time between 1900 and 1910. The colliery was re-opened at great expense by the Moira Colliery Company, who deepened the shafts to the Kilburn Seam. It was closed a number of times in the 1920s due to flooding. Its revival was brief and it was finally closed in 1936. |