MineArchive
Snowdown Colliery Welfare Male Voice Choir
| Category | Music |
|---|---|
| Dates | Aylesham founded 1926; choir formed 1929; four Kent colliery choirs at the Royal Albert Hall 1948; Snowdown Colliery closed 1987; 90th anniversary 2019. |
A male voice choir formed in 1929 at Aylesham by miners of Snowdown Colliery, the last survivor of the Kent coalfield's colliery choirs, which has sung at the Royal Albert Hall and raised more than £1 million for good causes.
The mining history in this record
The opening of the Kent coalfield in the early twentieth century drew miners from all over Britain, many from South Wales and Yorkshire, and they brought their choral traditions with them. Aylesham was built from 1926 to house them, and the heads of its first families all worked at the newly sunk Snowdown Colliery; the miners brought the male voice choir, the brass band and rugby, and each kept the colliery's name.
The Snowdown choir was formed in 1929 by John Yorath, a Welshman who was choirmaster of St Peter's Church in Aylesham, and some of its early members came from Wales. Soon the collieries at Snowdown, Betteshanger, Tilmanstone and Chislet all had male voice choirs, and in 1948 the four combined for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
People
John Yorath, Welsh choirmaster of St Peter's Church, Aylesham, who founded the choir in 1929.
Legacy today
Snowdown is now the only one of the four colliery choirs left. It has given more than 2,000 concerts, in venues from Tilmanstone church to the Royal Albert Hall and across England, Wales, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, and has raised over £1,000,000 for good causes. With the coalfield closed it draws its singers from all walks of life across Kent, but keeps the colliery name; members have sung 500 feet underground in the Llechwedd slate caverns and at the Menin Gate.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- The Snowdown choir was formed in 1929 by John Yorath, a Welshman who was choirmaster of St Peter's Church, Aylesham. (contemporary account) 1
- Miners who came to Aylesham to work at Snowdown Colliery brought the male voice choir, brass band and rugby, each of which keeps the colliery name. (documented fact) 2
- In 1948 the male voice choirs of Snowdown, Betteshanger, Tilmanstone and Chislet collieries combined for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. (contemporary account) 1
- Snowdown is the only one of the Kent colliery choirs still singing. (contemporary account) 1
- The choir has given more than 2,000 concerts and raised over £1,000,000 for good causes. (contemporary account, uncertain) 1
Mines
- Snowdown Colliery — Kent
Formed in 1929 by Aylesham's Snowdown miners, the choir still carries the colliery's name.
Real-world mining concepts used here
Sources
- (secondary) Snowdown Colliery Welfare Male Voice Choir (choir website) — Snowdown Colliery Welfare Male Voice Choir
- (secondary) Aylesham — Wikipedia
Record created: 19 October 2026 · Last researched: 19 October 2026