Dexter Colliery

Overview

A shaft sunk in 1927 by Kingsbury Collieries Ltd near Piccadilly, Kingsbury, to work coal beyond the Arley Fault. Its coal went to Kingsbury by tramway, and from 1960 to Daw Mill. It carried men for Daw Mill and Birch Coppice until 1986.

History

Dexter pit was sunk in 1927 by Kingsbury Collieries Ltd, on the far side of Piccadilly Way and Hurley Common from Kingsbury Colliery. Its purpose was to reach coal beyond the Arley Fault, which had thrown the seam 90 to 120 yards upwards. Dexter was connected to Kingsbury underground for ventilation, but its coal went to Kingsbury above ground by an overland tramway built in 1928, and all of it was screened and sold there.

By 1955 the workings reached seven miles from Kingsbury, and ventilation had become acute. A new shaft was begun in 1956 over three miles to the south at Daw Mill, and in 1958 it was decided that Daw Mill would become a colliery handling Dexter's coal. In summer 1960 a tunnel joined Daw Mill to the Dexter workings, and the ventilation road to Kingsbury was sealed. Coal production at Dexter then stopped, but the pit stayed open to carry Daw Mill's men. From 1977 it also served Birch Coppice, whose workings had come within a few hundred feet of the Dexter pit bottom. When Birch Coppice closed in 1986, Dexter became redundant and closed with it.

Geology

Warwickshire Coal Measures beyond the Arley Fault, which displaced the seam 90 to 120 yards upwards; the Two Yard seam was worked.

Workings

A single shaft connected underground to Kingsbury for ventilation, with an overland tramway of 1928 taking its coal to Kingsbury; joined to Daw Mill by tunnel in 1960 and to the Birch Coppice workings from 1977 for manriding.

Closure

Coal winding stopped after Daw Mill took over its output in 1960 (Two Yard workings abandoned in May 1966); the shaft carried men for Daw Mill and Birch Coppice until Birch Coppice closed in 1986.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

A memorial wall built in Piccadilly in 2009 carries the names of the men who worked at Dexter and Kingsbury, with an always-lit miner's lamp.

Related mines

• Daw Mill Colliery — Daw Mill took Dexter's coal from 1960; Dexter carried Daw Mill's men.
• Kingsbury Colliery — Sunk by Kingsbury Collieries; ventilated through Kingsbury and its coal screened there until 1960.

Recorded claims

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

• Sunk in 1927 by Kingsbury Collieries Ltd to work coal beyond the Arley Fault. ¹
• An overland tramway of 1928 took all Dexter's coal to Kingsbury for screening and sale. ¹
• Used for manriding after 1960 and closed with Birch Coppice in 1986. ¹
• The Two Yard workings were deposited as abandoned in May 1966. ²
• A 2009 memorial wall in Piccadilly names the miners of Kingsbury and Dexter collieries. ^3,4

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Dexter Colliery — Our Warwickshire (Warwickshire County Record Office)
2. (primary) Mine plan: Dexter, Two Yard (abandoned 1966) — British Geological Survey
3. (secondary) Kingsbury Colliery — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
4. (observational) Miner's lamp Piccadilly (photograph) — Geograph

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 2 October 2026