Askern Main Colliery

Overview

A Doncaster-area colliery sunk from 1911 with the largest winding engines installed anywhere in Britain, whose adjacent Coalite smokeless-fuel plant outlived the colliery itself by five years.

History

Askern Main Colliery was sunk by the Askern Coal & Iron Co. Ltd, work beginning in April 1911 on two 6.55-metre-diameter shafts. The Barnsley seam horizon was reached at 515 metres, though here the seam was diminished, worked as a combination of the Top Softs and Rider coal known locally as the Warren House seam; the shafts were later extended to the Flockton seam at 656.5 metres. Mining was further complicated by the proximity of the Morley Campsall Fault Belt. Two winding engines installed in 1912, built by Yates and Thom Ltd of Blackburn, were the largest of their kind installed anywhere in Britain. The colliery was connected to the London Midland & Scottish Railway's Askern Branch, and from the late 1920s a Coalite smokeless-fuel plant was built next door, taking part of Askern's output; the Coalite plant continued operating until 1986, five years before the colliery itself closed. Ownership passed to the National Coal Board at nationalisation in 1947 and to British Coal Corporation from 1987. Employment peaked at around 2,650 in the 1930s. Falling coal prices led to serious financial losses in Askern's final years, and the colliery closed on 20 December 1991.

Workings

Two shafts sunk from 1911, reaching the Warren House seam (a combination of Top Softs and Rider coal) at 515 metres and later extended to the Flockton seam at 656.5 metres; the High Hazel (Kent's Thick) seam was also worked between 1933 and 1937.

Closure

Closed 20 December 1991; falling coal prices had led to serious financial losses in the colliery's final years.

What remains

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

No specific surviving colliery 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.

• Sinking of two 6.55-metre-diameter shafts began in April 1911, reaching the Barnsley seam horizon (worked as the Warren House seam) at 515 metres. ¹
• Two winding engines installed in 1912, built by Yates and Thom Ltd of Blackburn, were the largest of their kind installed anywhere in Britain. ¹
• A Coalite smokeless-fuel plant, built next to the colliery from the late 1920s, continued operating until 1986, five years before the colliery itself closed in 1991. ¹
• The colliery closed on 20 December 1991 after low coal prices caused serious financial losses. ^1,2
• The Durham Mining Museum's own summary explicitly states no disaster of five or more deaths is recorded for this colliery. ²

Sources

1. (secondary) Askern Main Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum - Askern Main Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

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