Church Gresley Colliery

Overview

A South Derbyshire colliery at Church Gresley, near Swadlincote, sunk in 1829 and bought soon after by the Marquis of Hastings, later worked by the Moira Colliery Company with over a thousand men, and merged by the Coal Board with a neighbouring pit in 1967.

History

The Church Gresley pits were sunk in 1829 by Gregory of Repton and bought a few years later by the Marquis of Hastings. A 'new pit' followed in 1834 and an upcast shaft in 1865. The colliery is named on the Ordnance Survey's one-inch map of 1836, and a railway or tramway linked it to the Woodville branch. One list dates its opening to 1855.

On 6 April 1847 six men were killed in a shaft accident at the Church Pit. In 1864 a collier's light fired gas that had gathered in a partly closed roadway where he kept his tools, killing him, and in August 1866 two boys of thirteen and fourteen were run over on a self-acting incline. P. Beaumont, author of a history of the Moira collieries, became manager in September 1897, with charge of Church Gresley and the Reservoir pit until 1899.

The colliery grew fast around the turn of the century, owned by the Moira Colliery Company until nationalisation. It employed 310 people in 1894; by 1900 it had two pits, No. 1 working the Eureka, Little, Main and Stockings seams and No. 2 with 654 people, and by 1905 877 in all. No. 1 then raised steam coal from the Little seam and No. 2 household coal from the Eureka; the Stanhope was being worked by 1915. Employment reached 1,045 in 1915 and 1,208 in 1923. In February 1926 two deputies inspecting the new pit overnight failed to return, and a rescue team from Ashby-de-la-Zouch found them both dead the next day.

The National Coal Board took the colliery over in 1947, when 1,174 men raised 500,000 tons. In 1967 it was merged, with Cadley Hill by one account and with Rawdon by another, and the last plans of its Eureka seam workings are dated January 1968. By 1976 the colliery had gone from the map, and by 1995 its site was an industrial estate.

Geology

Coal Measures of the South Derbyshire coalfield: the Little, Main, Eureka, Stockings and Stanhope seams; fireclay was also worked at Church Gresley.

Workings

Shafts of 1829, a 'new pit' of 1834 and an upcast of 1865; the Church Pit (1847); two pits, Nos. 1 and 2, by 1900; a self-acting incline; a railway link to the Woodville branch.

Closure

Merged with a neighbouring colliery in 1967 (Cadley Hill or Rawdon); the Eureka seam was abandoned on 4 January 1968.

What remains

The site was an industrial estate by 1995.

Redevelopment

Industrial estate.

Related mines

• Cadley Hill Colliery — Church Gresley was merged and combined with Cadley Hill in 1967 (Wikipedia, List of collieries in Derbyshire); another account names Rawdon.
• Moira Collieries — Both owned by the Marquis of Hastings and then the Moira Colliery Company (Picture the Past; DMM).
• Reservoir Colliery — P. Beaumont managed Church Gresley and the Reservoir pit together from 1897 to 1899 (Picture the Past); both owned by the Moira Colliery Company (DMM).

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Church Gresley Colliery opened in 1855. (disputed) ²
• Church Gresley was merged in 1967 and combined with Cadley Hill. (disputed) ²
• Church Gresley merged with Rawdon in 1967. (disputed) ⁵

Recorded claims

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

• The Church Gresley pits were sunk in 1829 by Gregory of Repton and bought a few years later by the Marquis of Hastings; the new pit was sunk in 1834 and the upcast in 1865. ¹
• Church Gresley Colliery opened in 1855. (disputed) ²
• Church Gresley Colliery is named on the 1836 Ordnance Survey map. ³
• The colliery employed 1,208 people in 1923; in 1947 it employed 1,174 and produced 500,000 tons. ⁴
• Church Gresley was merged in 1967 and combined with Cadley Hill. (disputed) ²
• Church Gresley merged with Rawdon in 1967. (disputed) ⁵
• By 1976 the colliery was no longer on the map, and in 1995 the site was an industrial estate. ³
• The Church Gresley Eureka seam workings were abandoned on 4 January 1968. ⁶

Sources

1. (secondary) Colliery Manager, Mr P Beaumont — Picture the Past
2. (secondary) List of collieries in Derbyshire — Wikipedia
3. (secondary) MDR6988 - Church Gresley Colliery (site of), Church Gresley — Derbyshire Historic Environment Record
4. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Church Gresley Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
5. (secondary) Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfield — Wikipedia
6. (primary) BGS mine plans: Church Gresley, Eureka seam, abandoned 4 January 1968 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

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