| Administrative History | Jonathan Hall and Thomas Boardman sank new shafts in 1852 to form Swadlincote Old or Hearthcote Colliery. Initially they sank to the Main Coal Seam (passing through Block and Little Seams), but later deepened to780 feet. The colliery was an immediate success and by 1857 was employing 160 men and boys, raising 35000 tons of coal per annum. They also sank shafts for a new White House Coliery, although this was soon abandonde due to the poor coal and difficult drainage. By 1860 canal and rail sales were almost double those of the Granville Company in spite of its brief existence, reflecting the drive of Hall and Boardman as colliery proprietors to develop a profitable business. They looked to develop a colliery at Cadley Hill, purchasing mineral rights and acquiring Far Leys Farm on which to site it. Shafts were sunk, reaching Over Main, Woodfield and Eureka coal seams. With Hall having died in 1865 and Boardman in 1871, a new Hall and Boardman Limited was formed in 1884, with John Hall controlling affairs for many years. In 1899 the company was reinamed Hall's Collieries Limited.
In 1920 Hall's Collieries Limited purchased from the Earl of Caernarvon the Bretby Colliery, which proved a difficult colliery to run. It would seem taht the nearby Stanhope Colliery was briefly re-used in the early 1930s by the company to help mine from Bretby No. 3 Pit. In 1947 the company's collieries of Swadlincote, Cadley Hall and Bretby passed into the control of the National Board following the nationalisation of the coal industry. |