Denby Hall Colliery

Overview

A Butterley Company pit at Denby in Derbyshire, sunk in 1875 to 272 yards and worked first in the Kilburn seam. It grew from about 230 men in the 1890s to 712 by 1923, passed to the National Coal Board in 1947, merged with the neighbouring Denby Drury-Lowe pit in January 1967 and closed in 1968.

History

Denby Hall Colliery stood at Denby, about eight and a half miles north-north-east of Derby. It was sunk in 1875 to a depth of 272 yards for the Butterley Company, the Derbyshire iron and coal concern, and it was a Butterley pit for the whole of its private life. It began in the Kilburn seam, and worked nothing else through the 1890s and 1900s; the Tupton was added by 1910 and the Deep Hard and Deep Soft by 1915. The coal changed with the seams: household in 1894, steam from 1896, and both together from 1905. It was a small pit at first - 233 men in 1894, of whom 194 worked below ground, and slightly fewer through 1896 and 1900 - and then grew steadily: 274 in 1905, 404 in 1910, 524 in 1915 and 712 by 1923. The inter-war years took it back to 580 in 1933 and 524 in 1937, and it stood at 549 in 1940. At nationalisation in 1947 it employed 670 men, 466 of them below ground, and raised 400,000 tons of coking, gas, household and industrial coals. Under the National Coal Board it worked the Piper seam: in 1966 about 930 men at Denby Hall raised some 340,000 tons from it, while 750 men at the neighbouring Denby Drury-Lowe pit - sunk between 1839 and 1850 to 346 yards - raised nearly 320,000 tons from other seams. The two were merged in January 1967, and the workings closed in 1968. On 9 May 1951 a fall of roof at Denby Hall killed five men.

Geology

Worked the Kilburn seam from the sinking, with the Tupton added by 1910 and the Deep Hard and Deep Soft by 1915; under the National Coal Board the Piper seam was the pit's main product.

Workings

A shaft sunk in 1875 to 272 yards. The neighbouring Denby Drury-Lowe pit, sunk between 1839 and 1850 to 346 yards, was merged with it in January 1967.

Closure

In January 1967 Denby Hall was merged with the neighbouring Denby Drury-Lowe pit, the combined colliery taking back the name Denby Colliery; it closed in February 1968.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Nearby mines

• Ormonde Colliery — 2.0 km E
• Ripley Colliery — 2.5 km N
• Mapperley Colliery — 4.6 km S
• Brinsley Colliery — 5.9 km E, Nottinghamshire
• Pye Hill Colliery — 6.3 km NE, Nottinghamshire

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Disasters & major incidents

• Denby Hall Colliery roof fall, 1951
  9 May 1951 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 5 fatalities
  On 9 May 1951 a fall of roof at Denby Hall Colliery, near Denby in North Derbyshire, killed five men.

Recorded claims

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

• Denby Hall was sunk in 1875 to a depth of 272 yards, and was owned by the Butterley Company until nationalisation in 1947. ¹
• In 1966 about 930 men at Denby Hall raised some 340,000 tons from the Piper seam. ¹
• In January 1967 Denby Hall was merged with the neighbouring Denby Drury-Lowe pit, the combined colliery taking back the name Denby Colliery, and it closed in February 1968. ^1,2
• On 9 May 1951 a fall of roof at Denby Hall killed five men. ¹
• The colliery's abandonment plans are held in the mine-plans catalogue of the British Geological Survey, which lists seventy-one plans under the name Denby Hall. ³
• The colliery worked the Kilburn seam alone through the 1890s and 1900s, adding the Tupton by 1910 and the Deep Hard and Deep Soft by 1915. Its coal was returned as household in 1894, steam from 1896 and both from 1905, and as coking, gas, household and industrial coal by 1947. ¹
• The colliery employed 233 men in 1894, 194 of them below ground, and grew to 404 by 1910, 524 by 1915 and 712 by 1923, falling back to 580 in 1933 and 524 in 1937. At nationalisation in 1947 it employed 670, of whom 466 worked below ground, and raised 400,000 tons. ¹
• Denby Drury-Lowe, the neighbouring colliery with which Denby Hall was merged in January 1967, had been sunk between 1839 and 1850 to a depth of 346 yards. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Denby Hall Colliery (DMM d218) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Denby (Drury-Lowe) Colliery, closed 1968 — Healey Hero (Bob Bradley, Derbyshire colliery histories)
3. (primary) Oakenshaw Colliery abandonment plans (BGS mine-plans catalogue) — British Geological Survey
4. (primary) Denby Hall abandonment plans (BGS mine-plans catalogue) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 23 September 2026 · Last researched: 23 September 2026