Ackton Hall Colliery

Overview

A Featherstone colliery whose 1893 lockout ended with troops firing on a crowd of demonstrators, killing two men in what became known as the Featherstone Massacre — a pit that went on working for another 92 years before a strike-triggered fire finally destroyed its future.

History

Ackton Hall Colliery was started in 1873 by George Bradley, owner of Ackton Hall and most of the surrounding land at Featherstone, who borrowed money to sink two shafts near the railway station to the Stanley Main Seam. In August 1890 the estate and colliery were bought by Samuel Cunliffe Lister (later Lord Masham), who carried out a major improvement scheme including new shafts to the Silkstone and Haigh Moor seams. The colliery's defining moment came on 7 September 1893, during a national coal lockout, when troops sent to protect coal stocks at Ackton Hall opened fire on a crowd near the pit yard. Small coal (slack) had continued to be loaded from stockpiled heaps throughout the lockout, and on the day in question soldiers fired shots that struck the ground and ricocheted into the crowd, hitting around 20 people; two men, James Gibbs and James Arthur Duggan, died of their injuries. An official inquiry concluded the attack on the colliery had been organised by crowds from outside the area, with Ackton Hall's own miners taking no part beyond watching — but the event, remembered as the Featherstone Massacre, became a landmark in the history of the British labour movement and directly influenced the growth of the Independent Labour Party. As underground workings extended further from the original Featherstone shafts, a further shaft was sunk at nearby Ackworth from 1912, with a ventilation fan installed to serve the extended workings. The colliery passed to the National Coal Board at nationalisation in 1947 and continued working for decades afterward. The year-long miners' strike of 1984-85 proved fatal to the pit's future: spontaneous combustion took hold in the Barnsley Bed seam during the stoppage, and Ackton Hall became the first colliery in the country to close once the strike ended, shutting in 1985. Across its whole working life, from 1873 to 1985, 329 men and boys were killed at the colliery.

Workings

Originally sunk in 1873 to the Stanley Main Seam, with further shafts added from 1890 to the Silkstone and Haigh Moor seams, and a further shaft sunk at Ackworth from 1912 as underground workings extended away from the original Featherstone shafts.

Closure

Spontaneous combustion took hold in the Barnsley Bed seam during the 1984-85 miners' strike, destroying the colliery's economic prospects; it became the first pit in the country to close once the strike ended, shutting in 1985.

What remains

No specific present-day surface condition was established from the sources checked for this pass.

No specific surviving structures were established from the sources checked for this pass.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Ackton Hall Colliery was started in 1873 by George Bradley, who sank two shafts to the Stanley Main Seam. ¹
• Samuel Cunliffe Lister (later Lord Masham) bought the Ackton Hall estate and colliery in August 1890 and carried out a major improvement scheme, including new shafts to the Silkstone and Haigh Moor seams. ¹
• On 7 September 1893, during a national coal lockout, troops sent to protect coal stocks at Ackton Hall fired on a crowd; two men, James Gibbs and James Arthur Duggan, died of their injuries. An official inquiry found the attack had been organised by crowds from outside the area, with Ackton Hall's own miners taking no part beyond watching. ²
• A further shaft was sunk at Ackworth from 1912, with a ventilation fan installed, as underground workings extended away from the original Featherstone shafts. ¹
• Spontaneous combustion in the Barnsley Bed seam during the 1984-85 miners' strike destroyed the colliery's economic prospects, and it became the first colliery in the country to close once the strike ended, in 1985. ¹
• Across its working life from 1873 to 1985, 329 men and boys were killed at Ackton Hall Colliery. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Featherstone's Three Collieries: Ackton Hall — Featherstone's Three Collieries
2. (secondary) The Ackton Hall Colliery Riot of 1893 — Featherstone, England & the Victorians Archive

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 27 August 2026