Dodworth Colliery

Overview

A colliery west of Barnsley, sunk in 1850 and worked until 1987, which grew into a group of shafts, a surface drift and satellite units at Redbrook and Higham linked by cable-belt conveyors; in 1979 its 1,350 men broke the pit's output record with a week of 21,455 tonnes.

History

Dodworth Colliery, recorded by the Durham Mining Museum as Church Lane Colliery, was begun in 1850 with two shafts two and a half miles west-south-west of Barnsley, later deepened to 265 yards. It belonged to the Silkstone and Dodworth Coal and Iron Company and then Old Silkstone Collieries before nationalisation, and worked the Flockton, Parkgate, Silkstone and Thorncliffe seams; employment rose from about 1,100 in 1905 to 1,436 in 1940 and 1,544 in 1954. Under the National Coal Board a surface drift was added in 1962, and two satellite units at Redbrook and Higham sent their coal up a drift and overland to Dodworth on cable-belt conveyors; in 1967 the complex was fully power-loaded, with 1,460 men producing 739,000 tons. After a strike in September 1978, when the pit had lost £2 million in six months, the 1,350 men made a profit every week, and in the last week of January 1979 they broke the colliery's fifteen-year-old record with 21,455 tonnes, 3.8 tonnes a man-shift against a national average of 2.2, from faces in the Silkstone and Whinmoor seams. A new ventilation shaft at the Redbrook end was then under consideration. From 1985 only the Redbrook shaft operated, as Redbrook Colliery, and Dodworth closed in 1987.

Geology

Coal Measures of the Barnsley district: the Flockton, Parkgate, Thorncliffe and Silkstone seams in the early twentieth century, and the Whinmoor, Top Haigh Moor and Fenton seams, with the Silkstone being developed, by 1967.

Workings

Two shafts sunk in 1850 and deepened to 265 yards, a surface drift of 1962, and satellite units at Redbrook and Higham whose coal came up a drift and overland to Dodworth by cable-belt conveyor; fully power-loaded by 1967, with some faces worked by the advancing method in 1979.

Closure

From 1985 only the Redbrook shaft operated, known as Redbrook Colliery; the colliery closed in 1987.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Nearby mines

• Wentworth Silkstone Colliery — 2.3 km S
• Huskar Pit — 3.7 km NW
• East Gawber Colliery — 4.3 km NE
• North Gawber Colliery — 4.4 km NE
• Oaks Colliery — 4.9 km E

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

Recorded claims

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

• Dodworth consisted of two shafts sunk 1850 and deepened to 265 yards, a surface drift (1962) and satellite units at Redbrook and Higham linked by cable-belt conveyors; fully power-loaded, 1,460 men produced 739,000 tons (NCB leaflet, 1967). ¹
• Owned by the Silkstone and Dodworth Coal and Iron Co. and Old Silkstone Collieries Ltd before the NCB; employment 1,207 in 1923, 1,436 in 1940, 1,544 in 1954. ¹
• In the last week of January 1979 the 1,350 men broke the colliery's 15-year-old output record with 21,455 tonnes, 3.8 tonnes a man-shift, after a strike in September 1978 when the pit had lost £2m in six months. ²
• Dodworth closed in 1987; between 1985 and 1987 only the Redbrook shaft operated, known as Redbrook Colliery. ³
• The BGS/Mining Remediation Authority mine-plans catalogue holds plans under the name Dodworth Colliery. ⁴

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum - Church Lane Colliery (Dodworth) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Dodworth miners praised for digging up a fortune at colliery — Barnsley Chronicle
3. (secondary) List of collieries in Yorkshire (1984–2015) — Wikipedia
4. (primary) BGS mine plans: Dodworth Colliery — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

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