Dearne Valley Colliery

Overview

A drift mine at Little Houghton, east of Barnsley, driven on the outcrop of the Shafton seam in the early 1900s and worked by the Dearne Valley Colliery Company and then the National Coal Board until 1991.

History

Dearne Valley Colliery lay at Little Houghton, five and a half miles east of Barnsley, beside the deep shafts of Houghton Main. It was a drift mine. According to the National Coal Board's statistics, two drifts were driven in 1900 and a shaft sunk in 1901, the shaft still serving for ventilation in 1984; the Board's own 1967 account dates the surface drift on the outcrop to 1903, with the workings then following the Shafton seam. Two stone headers were killed in a winning heading on 22 December 1902 when a stone of fifteen tons fell.

The Dearne Valley Colliery Company employed 557 people in 1923 and 585 in 1937. The National Coal Board took over in 1947, when the mine raised 160,000 tons of household and steam coal with 534 men, and employed 627 in 1954. By 1967 it had four main roadways and, after pillar and stall working until 1965, was fully mechanised, raising 130,000 tons a year with 390 men. A new drift for men and materials was driven in 1973. The colliery closed in March 1991, its Sharlston Yard workings abandoned that month, and the site has since been landscaped.

Geology

The Yorkshire coalfield: the Shafton seam, worked from its outcrop, and the Sharlston Yard.

Workings

Drifts from the outcrop, four main roadways by 1967, a ventilation shaft of 1901 and a men-and-materials drift of 1973; pillar and stall until 1965, then fully mechanised.

Closure

Closed in March 1991; the Sharlston Yard workings were abandoned that month.

What remains

The site has been landscaped, partly with European Union funding.

What's uncertain

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

• Two drifts were driven at Dearne Valley in 1900 and a shaft sunk in 1901. (disputed) ^1,2
• The surface drift on the outcrop was established in 1903. (disputed) ³

Recorded claims

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

• Two drifts were driven at Dearne Valley in 1900 and a shaft sunk in 1901. (disputed) ^1,2
• The surface drift on the outcrop was established in 1903. (disputed) ³
• In 1947 the mine raised 160,000 tons of household and steam coal with 534 men. ³
• By 1967 it was fully mechanised, raising 130,000 tons a year with 390 men. ³
• A new drift for men and materials was driven in 1973. ¹
• The colliery closed in March 1991. ^1,2,4
• Two stone headers were killed on 22 December 1902 when a fifteen-ton stone fell in a winning heading. ⁵
• The site has been landscaped, partly with European Union funding. ⁶

Sources

1. (secondary) Coal mines in Yorkshire: D — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Dearne Valley Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: DEARNE VALLEY COLLIERY, Sharlston Yard, abandoned March 1991 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
5. (secondary) NMRS deaths database: Thomas Leatham, Dearne Valley, 22 December 1902 — Northern Mine Research Society
6. (secondary) Little Houghton, South Yorkshire — Wikipedia

Record created: 24 October 2026 · Last researched: 24 October 2026