Dinnington Colliery

Overview

A Rotherham-area colliery sunk from 1902 by a partnership of two coal companies, whose workforce founded a brass band still playing today, and whose closure in 1992 ended nearly a century of mining that a church memorial records took the lives of at least 74 men.

History

In 1899 the Sheffield Coal Company began preparations to sink a new colliery at Dinnington, but lacked the resources to proceed alone and entered a partnership with the Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Co.; the Dinnington Main Colliery Company was formed in 1900 to carry the project forward. Sinking began in 1902 and reached the Barnsley seam in the summer of 1904, with first coal drawn to the surface the following year, when the colliery also gained its second shaft. A rail connection via the South Yorkshire Joint Railway followed in January 1909. By nationalisation in 1946-47, ownership had passed to Amalgamated Denaby Collieries, based near Doncaster, before the colliery became part of the National Coal Board. Dinnington's workforce founded a colliery brass band in 1904, known for part of its history as the Dinnington Main and Middleton prize brass band, which survives today (see Culture, discovered this pass but not yet published). Production at the colliery halted in October 1991 and it formally closed in 1992, with the loss of over 1,000 jobs, ending nearly a century of coal mining in the area. A mining memorial at St Leonard's Church in Dinnington commemorates 74 miners who died working at the colliery across its history, though the exact final tally is disputed by some researchers. The site was later reclaimed, and a £60 million printing facility for Johnston Press was built there in 2006.

Workings

Two shafts, the first reaching the Barnsley seam in 1904, the second added in 1905.

Closure

Production halted October 1991; the colliery formally closed in 1992, with the loss of over 1,000 jobs.

What remains

The former colliery site was reclaimed and redeveloped; a £60 million Johnston Press printing facility was built there in 2006.

A mining memorial at St Leonard's Church, Dinnington, commemorates 74 miners who died working at the colliery, though the final tally is disputed by some researchers.

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.

• The Dinnington Main Colliery Company was formed in 1900, a partnership of the Sheffield Coal Company and Sheepbridge Coal and Iron Co.; sinking began in 1902 and reached the Barnsley seam in summer 1904. ¹
• First coal was drawn to the surface in 1905, the same year the colliery gained its second shaft. ¹
• Production halted in October 1991 and the colliery formally closed in 1992, with the loss of over 1,000 jobs. ¹
• A mining memorial at St Leonard's Church, Dinnington, commemorates 74 miners who died working at the colliery, though the final tally is disputed by some researchers. ¹
• The former colliery site was reclaimed, and a £60 million Johnston Press printing facility was built there in 2006. ^1,2

Sources

1. (secondary) Dinnington Main Colliery — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Dinnington — The Land Trust

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 27 August 2026