| Entry Type | Corporate |
| Corporate Name | Ormonde Colliery |
| Parent Body | Butterley Co. Ltd |
| Place | Loscoe |
| Epithet | coal mine |
| Dates | 1908-1970 |
| History | 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 |
| Source | 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 |
| Authorised Form of Name | Loscoe; Ormonde Colliery; 1908-1970; coal mine |
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