Clipstone Colliery

Overview

A Nottinghamshire colliery whose twin 1953 headstocks — the tallest in Europe when built — still stand as a listed landmark long after the pit itself closed.

History

Clipstone Colliery was sunk by the Bolsover Colliery Company in the early 1920s to work the Top Hard coal seam east of Mansfield, opening in 1922. The colliery's most distinctive feature came later: two headstocks, linked by a shared central powerhouse, completed in 1953 to the designs of Manchester architects Young and Purves, built by Head Wrightson Colliery Engineering with winding engines from Markham and Company of Chesterfield. At completion they were the tallest colliery headstocks in Europe. The colliery worked for over eighty years before finally closing in 2003.

Geology

Clipstone worked the Top Hard seam of the Nottinghamshire coalfield.

Workings

Coal was raised via the twin linked shafts served by the 1953 headstocks and powerhouse.

Closure

Clipstone Colliery closed in 2003 after more than eighty years of production.

What remains

The headstocks and powerhouse survive as Grade II listed structures and a recognised local landmark, with the wider colliery site redeveloped.

The twin 1953 headstocks and their connecting powerhouse, now preserved as listed buildings.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

• Clipstone Colliery was sunk by the Bolsover Colliery Company to exploit the Top Hard coal seam, opening in 1922. ¹
• The colliery's twin headstocks and connecting powerhouse were completed in 1953 to designs by Young and Purves of Manchester, built by Head Wrightson Colliery Engineering with Markham and Company winding engines, and were the tallest headstocks in Europe at the time of completion. ^2,3
• Clipstone Colliery closed in 2003. ¹

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) Clipstone Colliery's Centenary Year — Nottinghamshire Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Clipstone Colliery, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire — The Twentieth Century Society
3. (primary) Headstocks and Powerhouse at the site of the former Clipstone Colliery — Historic England

Record created: 21 August 2026 · Last researched: 21 August 2026