Eckington Mine

Overview

Eckington Mine was a drift mine on the eastern edge of Eckington in Derbyshire, seven miles south-west of Sheffield, and as of 2011 the only colliery still in production in north-east Derbyshire. Planning permission was granted in 1992 to take 0.74 million tonnes of coal from a seam covering some 166 acres, and the mine began working in 1993 through two drifts into the Eckington Deep Soft, or Flockton, seam, supplying Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station. Part of the roof collapsed in 1998, killing two miners and injuring a third (see Disasters, below). It passed through a succession of owners and closed unexpectedly in January 2019, after which the Coal Authority sealed it with reinforced concrete walls and around 1,300 cubic yards of foamed concrete.

History

Eckington belongs to the very end of British deep coal mining. Planning permission was granted in 1992, allowing extraction of 0.74 million tonnes from a seam covering some 166 acres, and the mine opened in 1993. It was started by the Moorside Mining Company and worked two drifts into the Eckington Deep Soft — also called the Flockton — seam, its coal going to Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station. In 1999 permission was given to take a further 15,000 tonnes from 3.7 acres north of the original consent. It had a good safety record for its first five years, until part of the roof came down in 1998 some 800 metres in from the entrance, killing two miners and injuring a third. Operation continued: the Eckington Colliery Partnership raised 25,739 tonnes during its ownership and employed 26 people in the twelve months to March 2007. A review in 2013 granted a ten-year extension on the ground that further environmental damage was unlikely, and by then the mine was run by the Caledonian Coal Company; ownership passed to John Baker Barnett Ltd by 2015 and to European Coal Products by 2017. It closed unexpectedly in January 2019.

Geology

The mine worked the Eckington Deep Soft seam, also known as the Flockton, in the Coal Measures of the north-east Derbyshire coalfield. Its workings sat above much older and deeper ground: the historic workings of the Parkgate Seam lie 65 metres below it and those of the Thorncliffe Seam 80 metres below — a reminder that a 1990s drift mine here was working a shallow seam left above a coalfield already exhausted at depth.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

A drift mine rather than a shaft pit: two drifts driven into the hillside, worked by the pillar and stall method. That method turned out to matter at the end. When the mine was sealed after closure, normal practice would have been to pack the entry roadways with waste material from the mine, but pillar and stall working generates little spoil and there was no suitable material on the surface, so concrete had to be used instead.

Closure

The mine closed unexpectedly in January 2019. Because the two roadways entering it pass beneath the London to Sheffield railway line, the Coal Authority moved quickly to prevent future subsidence compromising the route, and because the mine contained underground springs the water levels rose fast once the pumps were switched off.

What remains

Sealed and made safe. Reinforced concrete blockwork walls were built across both roadways about 140 metres in from the entrances, and foamed concrete was then pumped into the inclines, resting against the walls because of the steep angle; some 80 metres of drift was filled in this way, in stages, so the weight of concrete would not destroy the retaining walls. Around 1,300 cubic yards of concrete were used in all. The entrances were then dug out and the land reprofiled. The work took thirteen weeks and finished in June 2020.

Nothing. The drift entrances were excavated and the ground reprofiled as part of the 2020 sealing works.

Nearby mines

• Brookhouse Colliery — 4.8 km N, South Yorkshire
• Fence Colliery — 6.1 km N, South Yorkshire
• Kiveton Park Colliery — 6.1 km NE, South Yorkshire
• Orgreave Colliery — 7.5 km N, South Yorkshire
• Markham Colliery — 7.6 km S

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

Disasters & major incidents

• Eckington Mine Roof Fall
  June 1998 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 2 fatalities
  In 1998 part of the roof collapsed at Eckington drift mine in Derbyshire, about 800 metres in from the entrance, killing two miners and injuring a third. The mine, opened only five years earlier and worked by the pillar and stall method, had had a good safety record until then. It continued in production afterwards and did not close until January 2019.

Recorded claims

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

• Planning permission was granted in 1992 allowing extraction of 0.74 million tonnes of coal from a seam covering some 166 acres, and the mine began operating in 1993 with two drifts working the Eckington Deep Soft (Flockton) seam. ¹
• As of 2011 Eckington was the only colliery in production in north-east Derbyshire. The Eckington Colliery Partnership produced 25,739 tonnes during its ownership, and the workforce in the twelve months to March 2007 was 26. ¹
• The mine was started by Moorside Mining Company, was run by the Caledonian Coal Company by 2013, passed to John Baker Barnett Ltd by 2015 and to European Coal Products by 2017, and closed unexpectedly in January 2019. ¹
• The mine workings lie above deeper historic workings of the Parkgate Seam, 65 metres below, and the Thorncliffe Seam, 80 metres below. ¹
• Reinforced concrete blockwork walls were built across both roadways some 140 metres from the entrances and foamed concrete pumped into the inclines behind them, filling about 80 metres of drift in stages so the weight would not destroy the walls; around 1,300 cubic yards of concrete were used. Normal practice would have been to pack the roadways with mine waste, but the pillar and stall working had left no suitable material on the surface. The work took thirteen weeks and ended in June 2020. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Eckington Mine — Wikipedia
2. (primary) Former Derbyshire drift mine made safe to protect public and environment (21 January 2020) — The Coal Authority / UK Government

Record created: 4 September 2026 · Last researched: 4 September 2026