Barnbow Pit

Overview

The last deep mine sunk in the Garforth coalfield: an all-electric colliery of 1924-25 built on the site of the Barnbow shell-filling factory east of Leeds, which raised Beeston coal until Garforth Collieries Ltd failed in 1930.

History

Barnbow Pit, in the Barnbow district on the eastern edge of Leeds, was the last deep mine to be sunk in the Garforth coalfield. A colliery at Barnbow was first planned in 1911 for Colonel Gascoigne, the owner of the Garforth pits, and the North Eastern Railway drew up sidings for it, but nothing went further than the drawing board. Gascoigne sold the pits after the 1919 strike to The Garforth Collieries Ltd, a company controlled by the Wharncliffe Silkstone Company of Tankersley, which took a sixty-year lease on the coal from 1 January 1920. In 1923 it was sold to Old Silkstone Collieries of Dodworth, near Barnsley, which kept the name Garforth Collieries Ltd and planned a new pit on the ground of the First World War Shell Filling Factory, part of which was returned to Gascoigne on 7 September 1923.

The pit was sunk behind the old factory's Amatol melting house, and parts of the factory served as winding house, offices, workshops and canteen. Sir Edward Airey of Leeds was the contractor and the Yorkshire Electric Power Company equipped it, so winding, pumping, haulage and lighting were all electric and there was no chimney. Sinking of No. 1, the 14-foot downcast, began in early September 1924, passing the Barcelona seam at 75 feet and reaching the 5 ft 3 in Beeston seam on 25 November 1924; No. 2, the upcast, was sunk about 50 yards away from December. About 100 men worked on the sinking, and the pit had over 300 workers by February 1925. Coal was first raised in June 1925, working the Beeston seam by bord and pillar after advancing longwall failed on the roof and floor, and the pit aimed at 2,000 tons a day. Ponies came to the surface every day, lowered in a net under the cage. The pit was wet, lifting 150 gallons a minute, and in 1927 it broke into the old workings of Sir Thomas Gascoigne's eighteenth-century pits and flooded, with no loss of life.

After the General Strike of 1926 Garforth Collieries Ltd fell into financial trouble. By 1930 Barnbow and the Trench Pit employed about 600 men, two thirds of them at Barnbow. When the owners demanded a 10 per cent wage cut the men voted 343 to 214 against it on 4 June 1930 and came out on 6 June. The abandonment plan gives 30 June 1930 as the last day of working, and the company went into the hands of a receiver. The two shafts were capped in April 1967 after being used to pump water from the Oxclose opencast workings.

Geology

The Barcelona seam lay at 75 feet and the 5 ft 3 in Beeston seam, an excellent house coal, was reached on 25 November 1924; a thinner gas coal below was never worked. Coal lay at no more than 90 yards. Bord and pillar working was used after advancing longwall failed.

Workings

Two shafts about 50 yards apart: No. 1, the 14-foot downcast, and No. 2, the upcast with the ventilation plant, lined with reclaimed factory bricks. All plant was electric. The pit had railway sidings from the Leeds-Selby line and screens that graded the coal into wagons.

Closure

The owners gave notice in early June 1930 after a dispute over a 10 per cent wage cut; the abandonment plan gives 30 June 1930 as the final day. The shafts were capped in April 1967.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Isabella Pit, Garforth — Garforth Collieries Ltd, which held the Isabella Pit until it was worked out in 1925, sank Barnbow Pit in 1924.
• Sisters Pit, Garforth — Garforth Collieries Ltd, which held the Sisters Pit until it closed in 1922, sank Barnbow Pit in 1924.
• Trench Pit, Garforth — Garforth Collieries Ltd, which closed the Trench Pit in 1930, sank Barnbow Pit in 1924 and closed it in the same year.
• Wharncliffe Silkstone Colliery — The Wharncliffe Silkstone Company controlled the first Garforth Collieries Ltd (1920-23), before Old Silkstone Collieries bought it and sank Barnbow Pit.

Recorded claims

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

• A colliery at Barnbow was first planned in 1911 for Colonel Gascoigne, but the railway and colliery plans went no further than the drawing board. ¹
• Colonel Gascoigne sold the Garforth pits after the 1919 strike to The Garforth Collieries Ltd, which took a sixty-year lease from 1 January 1920; in 1923 it was sold to Old Silkstone Collieries and renamed Garforth Collieries Ltd. ^1,2
• The pit was sunk behind the melting house of the Amatol B plant of the former Shell Filling Factory, whose buildings served the colliery. ¹
• Sinking of the 14-foot downcast began in early September 1924, passed the Barcelona seam at 75 feet and reached the 5 ft 3 in Beeston seam on 25 November 1924; the upcast was begun in December 1924. ¹
• Winding, pumping, hauling and lighting at Barnbow Pit were all electric, using modern electric power with no pit chimney. ^1,3,4
• Coal production began in June 1925, from the Beeston seam. ^1,4
• Over 300 people were employed by February 1925; in 1930 Barnbow and the Trench Pit employed about 600 men, about two thirds at Barnbow. ^1,2
• A disaster struck Barnbow Pit one afternoon in April 1927, after nearly two years of trouble-free work. ¹
• In 1927 the pit struck the old workings of Sir Thomas Gascoigne's eighteenth-century mines and flooded, but with no loss of life. ⁴
• After a dispute over a 10 per cent wage cut the men came out on 6 June 1930; the abandonment plan gives 30 June 1930 as the final day of working, and Barnbow and Trench pits closed that year. ^2,3,4
• The two shafts were capped in April 1967, after being used to lift water from the opencast workings at Oxclose. ²
• The British Geological Survey catalogues an abandonment plan for Garforth Barnbow. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) The Story of Barnbow Pit (1924-1930) Part 1 (The Barwicker No. 58) — Barwick-in-Elmet Historical Society
2. (secondary) The Story of Barnbow Pit (1924-1930) Part 3 (The Barwicker No. 60) — Barwick-in-Elmet Historical Society
3. (secondary) History of Mining (The Story of Garforth) — The Story of Garforth
4. (secondary) The Aberford Railway: The Final Years (LNER Encyclopedia) — LNER Encyclopedia
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: GARFORTH BARNBOW — British Geological Survey

Record created: 30 September 2026 · Last researched: 30 September 2026