| Entry Type | Corporate |
| Corporate Name | Glapwell Colliery |
| Parent Body | Sheepbridge Colliery Company (1882-1947) |
| National Coal Board (1947-1974) |
| Place | Glapwell |
| Epithet | coal mine |
| Dates | 1881-1974 |
| History | An original lease for 1100 acres was taken out by the Sheepbridge Coal & Iron Company from Reverend Hallows in 1872. Special terms were added to ensure that the workings were located away from Glapwell Hall and would cause minimum inconvenience to the family living there. Initially 2 shafts were sunk in 1882, with the first coal being produced in 1883. A third shaft was added in 1920. The seams worked included the Waterloo, Low Main, Three Quarter, Deep Hard and Blackshale coal seams. The highest recorded manpower was 3,273 in 1930, with the highest recorded output of 1,080,317 tonnes in 1951. At that time of sinking, no housing was provided for the miners, so they lived in makeshift wooden buildings onsite. Building of houses only started after the outline of the colliery was completed. Eventually, a village school was built, with the expense of the school mistress being shared with the Duke of Devonshire.
Glapwell was known as a place to experiment with new technology, initially including an onsite gas works and screening plant. The site was first served with a telegraph connection in 1883, which was upgraded to a private telephone connection in 1885. Electricity was also generated here when the techology allowed. The amount generated was also used to power nearby Ramcroft Colliery owned by the Staveley Coal & Iron Company. A coal distillation plant was added after WW1. This proved unsuccessful and was eventually abandoned. An underground mechanised loading and spoil disposal ropeway was installed between 1940 and 1941. Pithead baths were opened in 1961.
Glapwell Colliery was transferred into the control of the National Coal Board following the nationalisation of the coal industry. It became paret of the East Midlands Division in the Area No. 1. Connections with nearby Ramcroft and Langwith collieries meant that water migrated to Glapwell. A nearby drift mine called Bramley Vale was located close to Glapwell, but remained separate, despite being managed by the same management. It opened in 1955 and closed in 1970. Glapwell Colliery itself closed in 1974.
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| Source | ‘Glapwell Colliery (North Derbyshire) Closed 1974, After 90 Years’, http://www.healeyhero.co.uk/rescue/individual/Bob_Bradley/Bk-5/B5-1974-P2.html
Chesterfield Quadcentenary: A Unique Social History of Our Town (Chesterfield: Bannister Publications Ltd, 1999)
Finney, M., Men of Iron: A History of the Sheepbridge Company (Old Whittington: Bannister Publications Ltd, 1995) |
| Authorised Form of Name | Glapwell; Glapwell Colliery; 1881-1974; coal mine |
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