Elm Colliery

Overview

A Buckley colliery of three shafts, each about 334 yards deep, opened by George Watkinson and Sons in the 1870s. It passed to the Buckley Colliery Company, which belonged to John Summers' steelworks and sent its coal to the furnaces at Shotton, and closed in 1934.

History

Buckley stands on a corridor of clay and coal running from Ewloe in the north to Padeswood in the south, and the town lived on three industries: potteries, brickworks and collieries. The 1881 census counted 762 people working in mining there against 359 in brickmaking, and at one time there were over thirty collieries of various depths, some run in combination with the brickworks. George Watkinson and Sons Limited opened Elm in the 1870s. It had three shafts: Nos. 1 and 3 wound coal and No. 2 ventilated, and each was around 334 yards deep. The two coaling shafts were returned separately for the whole run of the official lists and their fortunes moved in opposite directions. No. 1 employed 482 in 1894 and 152 by 1915; No. 3 employed 104 in 1894 and 364 by 1910. They worked different seams — No. 1 the Brassey, Hollin, Main, Wall and Bench, No. 3 the Hollin, Main and Premier — which is why one could rise as the other fell. The Buckley Colliery Company took the pits over, and the Buckley Colliery Company belonged to John Summers' steelworks, which bought up most of the collieries in the district and burned much of their coal in the furnaces at Shotton. In 1923 the company employed 208 at No. 1 and 233 at No. 3. Elm closed in 1934, and the Buckley Colliery Company itself was gone before 1935.

Geology

The North Wales coalfield at Buckley, where coal and fireclay run together in the same corridor of ground and the collieries and brickworks were often one business. The seams named in the returns are the Brassey, Hollin, Main, Wall and Bench at No. 1 shaft and the Hollin, Main and Premier at No. 3, with the Queen added by 1923.

Workings

Three shafts, each about 334 yards deep: Nos. 1 and 3 for coal and No. 2 for ventilation. The two coaling shafts were worked as separate undertakings in everything but ownership, with their own workforces, their own seams and their own returns.

Closure

Elm closed in 1934. The Buckley Colliery Company, which by then owned it, closed before 1935.

What remains

No account of the site as it now stands has been found. Welsh Coal Mines notes that a photograph of Elm Colliery is still wanted.

None recorded.

Nearby mines

• Leeswood Main Colliery — 5.5 km S
• Leeswood Green Colliery — 5.8 km S
• Milwr Tunnel — 8.8 km NW
• Hendre Mine — 9.0 km W
• Ffrwd Colliery — 9.8 km S, Wrexham

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.

• George Watkinson and Sons Limited opened Elm colliery in the 1870s. It consisted of two coaling shafts, Nos. 1 and 3, and a ventilation shaft, No. 2; they were each around 334 yards deep. ¹
• The official returns give No. 1 shaft 482 employed in 1894, 307 in 1896, 178 in 1900, 219 in 1905, 171 in 1910 and 152 in 1915, while No. 3 went from 104 in 1894 to 115, 152, 211, 364 and 313 over the same years. They worked different seams: No. 1 the Brassey, Hollin, Main, Wall and Bench, No. 3 the Hollin, Main and Premier. ²
• John Summers Steelworks owned the Buckley Colliery Company, which bought most of the collieries in the district and used much of the coal for the furnaces at Shotton Steelworks. The Buckley Colliery Company closed before 1935. ³
• According to the 1881 census 762 people worked in mining at Buckley against 359 in brick making, and at one time there were over thirty collieries of various depths, some of them run in combination with the brickworks. ³
• Thirty-five deaths are recorded at the colliery. Most are falls of roof and runaway tubs, and several turn on timbering: Thomas Griffiths, killed in 1888 when coal fell from a bad slip, was found by the inspector to have been dilatory in preparing to set timber. Arthur Hewitt, a haulage attendant of 14, was killed in 1914 by runaway tubs when a lashing chain broke. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Bettisfield Colliery, Bagillt — Welsh Coal Mines, from the Inspector of Mines lists
2. (secondary) Elm Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) About Buckley — Buckley Society

Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 11 September 2026