Chell Colliery

Overview

A small North Staffordshire colliery at Chell, on the northern edge of Tunstall, which worked coal and ironstone from shafts at Great and Little Chell from the 1850s until production stopped by 1901; a fire lamp in its upcast shaft set off an explosion that killed three officials in 1889.

History

Chell Colliery worked the North Staffordshire coalfield under Chell, north of Tunstall, from shafts off Turnhurst Road at Great Chell and High Lane at Little Chell. In 1855, when a man was killed by a fall of coal, it was returned under H. H. Williamson of Tunstall; by 1860 R. Beswick was the owner. A man fell out of the bucket in a sinking pit in 1856, and on 23 February 1860 three men died when a rope broke.

The inspectors' lists record a steady toll through the following decades: falls of roof and stone, a broken wire rope in 1864, firedamp explosions in 1872 and 1877, and a boy of fourteen jammed at the bottom of a jig by a loaded tub in 1883. On 17 August 1889 gas that had built up in abandoned workings was forced into the upcast shaft and fired by a fire lamp hanging there; the explosion killed the undermanager, William Sambrooks, and two firemen, John Adams and William Johnson.

In 1896 the Chell Colliery Company, with Robert Beswick as manager and James Brunt as under-manager, employed 56 men underground and 21 at the surface, getting manufacturing and steam coal and ironstone from the Winghay, Burnwood and Twist seams. Employment rose to 139 in 1900, but both shafts had stopped producing by 1901, the year the plan of its Chell, Chell Meadows, Oxford and Chell Heath workings was closed.

Geology

Coal Measures of the North Staffordshire coalfield: the Winghay, Burnwood, Twist and Rowhurst seams, with ironstone.

Workings

Two shafts, off Turnhurst Road (Great Chell) and High Lane (Little Chell); a sinking pit (1856); an upcast shaft heated by a fire lamp (1889); a jig brow.

Closure

Both shafts had ceased production by 1901; the abandonment plan of the Chell, Chell Meadows, Oxford and Chell Heath workings is dated 1901.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• The Chell Colliery Company had shafts off Turnhurst Road, Great Chell, and High Lane, Little Chell; both had ceased production by 1901. ¹
• In 1896 the Chell Colliery Company employed 56 men underground and 21 at the surface, with Robert Beswick as manager, working manufacturing and steam coal and ironstone from the Winghay, Burnwood and Twist seams. ^2,3
• In 1855 the colliery was returned under H. H. Williamson of Tunstall. ⁴
• On 23 February 1860 three men were killed at Chell when a rope broke; the owner was R. Beswick. ²
• On 17 August 1889 gas from abandoned workings, forced into the upcast shaft, was fired by a fire lamp hanging there and killed three men. ^2,5
• The colliery employed 139 people in 1900. ²

Sources

1. (secondary) Chell, Staffordshire — Wikipedia
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Chell Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Chell Mine — thepotteries.org (Steve Birks)
4. (secondary) 1850s H: Ian Winstanley's alphabetical list of mining victims — Healey Hero
5. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Chell explosion, 17 August 1889 — Durham Mining Museum
6. (primary) BGS mine plans: Chell, Chell Meadows, Oxford, Chell Heath, abandoned 1901 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026