Bettisfield Colliery

Overview

Bagillt had at least eleven coal pits during the nineteenth century and Bettisfield was the largest and most important of them, standing on the Dee estuary shore below the village. It opened in 1872 with two shafts sunk 290 yards, one seventeen feet across and the other ten feet six inches. In 1894 it employed 712 people. It worked the One, Two and Three Yard seams with the Queen and Five Feet, passed through the Bagillt Coal Co. and back to Bettisfield Colliery Ltd, and closed around 1934. Its buildings still stand beside the Wales Coast Path.

History

The Bettisfield Colliery Co. Ltd opened the colliery in 1872 at Bagillt, on the Flintshire shore of the Dee. Two shafts were sunk to 290 yards, one seventeen feet in diameter and the other ten feet six inches. It was much the largest of the eleven or more pits worked at Bagillt in the nineteenth century. The Lists of Mines give 712 people in 1894 and 538 in 1896, of whom 100 worked on the surface, raising house and steam coal. Employment fell to 346 in 1900 and 287 in 1905 before recovering to 689 in 1910. By 1908 the colliery was in the hands of the Bagillt Coal Co. Ltd with 641 people; Bettisfield Colliery Ltd were the owners again by 1918, when the workforce numbered 450. In 1923 a total workforce of 502 raised house and steam coal from the One, Two and Three Yard seams and the Queen and Five Feet seams, and 415 people were returned in 1933.

Geology

Bettisfield worked the Flintshire end of the North Wales coalfield, where the measures run out under the Dee estuary. The named seams are the One, Two and Three Yard, the Queen and the Five Feet, taken from two shafts sunk 290 yards.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

Two shafts of unequal size sunk to 290 yards, one seventeen feet in diameter and the other ten feet six inches, returned as the No. 1 and No. 2 shafts in the Inspector's lists.

Closure

The colliery closed around 1934, the Lists of Mines returning 415 people in 1933. Its site on the shore is now open ground crossed by the Wales Coast Path, with a car park where the colliery stood.

What remains

Substantial remains of the colliery buildings still stand at Bagillt, beside the Wales Coast Path on Bagillt Cob and visible from passing Chester to Holyhead trains; a path and car park now occupy part of the site, and a commemorative plaque stands in the village.

Nearby mines

• Halkyn Mountain — 4.6 km SW
• Bryngwiog Lead Mine — 6.0 km SW
• Pen-y-Bryn Mine — 6.0 km SW
• Milwr Tunnel — 6.1 km S
• Neston Colliery — 7.3 km E, Cheshire

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• At different times during the nineteenth century there were at least eleven known coal pits at Bagillt, and Bettisfield was the largest and most important of them. ¹
• Two shafts were sunk to a depth of 290 yards, one seventeen feet in diameter and the other ten feet six inches. ¹
• The colliery employed 712 people in 1894 and 689 in 1910; the Inspector of Mines list for 1896 gives 538 including 100 surface workers. ^1,2
• The Bettisfield Colliery Co. Ltd opened the colliery in 1872; by 1908 it was held by the Bagillt Coal Co. Ltd, and Bettisfield Colliery Ltd were the owners again by 1918. ¹
• In 1923 a workforce of 502 raised house and steam coal from the One, Two and Three Yard seams and the Queen and Five Feet seams; the colliery closed around 1934. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Bettisfield Colliery, Bagillt — Welsh Coal Mines, from the Inspector of Mines lists
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Bettisfield Colliery — Durham Mining Museum, from the Lists of Mines
3. (observational) Remains of Bettisfield Colliery buildings, Bagillt (photographed 2016) — Geograph Britain and Ireland, Jeff Buck

Record created: 10 September 2026 · Last researched: 10 September 2026