Charity Colliery

Overview

The Bedworth collieries on land of the Rev. Nicholas Chamberlaine's charity, first sunk in 1776. They were worked by a long line of lessees, with up to ten pits at once, until Stanley Brothers closed them in 1924.

History

Charity Colliery was sunk on land owned by the Rev. Nicholas Chamberlaine's charity in Bedworth. The charity let the mineral rights and took royalties on every ton, which paid for a school and almshouses in the town. The first shafts, Charity No. 1, were sunk in 1776 at Coalpit Fields, and John Woodhouse held them on a 42-year lease until mining there ceased in 1804. A second set, Charity No. 2, was sunk in 1830, also at Coalpit Fields.

Lessees followed one another: McTaggart and Williams from 1830, the Williams family to 1859, and Addenbrooke and Pidcock of Darlaston from 1861 to 1878. C. J. Schofield of Manchester traded as the Bedworth Coal and Iron Company from 1879. In 1899 William Johnson MP bought the plant and sold it to Stanley Brothers Ltd of Stockingford, Nuneaton, who held it to the end. There were as many as ten pits at one time, raising ironstone as well as coal, and a branch ran to the main line and the canal. The official closure was 13 September 1924.

Geology

Warwickshire Coal Measures, with the Black ironstone also worked (Charity Nos. 3 and 10, abandoned 1887).

Workings

As many as ten pits at once, with a branch railway to the Coventry-Nuneaton line and down to the canal.

Closure

Officially closed on 13 September 1924; the lease was surrendered on 20 April 1925. The reason for closure is unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Some remaining pithead buildings were leased to Sir Norman Wisdom, who set up a concrete block works on the site that traded into the 1970s.

Recorded claims

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

• The first shafts were sunk in 1776 at Coalpit Fields, Bedworth, and a second set in 1830. ¹
• The charity let the mineral rights and used the royalties to build a school and almshouses. ¹
• Officially closed on 13 September 1924 under Stanley Brothers. ¹
• Charity Nos. 3 and 10 worked the Black ironstone, abandoned in 1887. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Brickyards, quarries and collieries of Nuneaton and north Warwickshire — The Nuneaton and North Warwickshire Local and Family History Web Site
2. (primary) Mine plan: Charity Nos. 3 and 10, Black ironstone (abandoned 1887) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 2 October 2026