MineArchiveFishley Colliery
| Location | Between Bloxwich and Pelsall, West Midlands — 52.6387, -1.9904 (approximate) |
|---|---|
| Commodity | Coal |
| Type | Coal |
| Worked | By 1866–c. 1945 |
| Maximum depth | Unknown. |
| Operators | Fishley Colliery Company |
Overview
The Fishley Colliery Company's group of pits between Bloxwich and Pelsall, Staffordshire, employing up to 880 men in the 1890s; a fireman lost in its workings in 1903 was never found.
History
Fishley Colliery lay between Bloxwich and Pelsall, and was worked by the Fishley Colliery Company, Limited, through a group of pits numbered 1 to 5. Deaths there are recorded from 1866, when a bandsman fell out of the cage as it ascended and another died after an explosion of firedamp. It worked the Cinder, Deep, Shallow and Yard seams of the South Staffordshire coalfield for household, manufacturing and steam coal, and it was a large concern: 734 men in 1894, 880 in 1896 and 845 in 1900.
Firedamp was a danger here: in 1886 the surveyor, R. S. Davenhill, died in an explosion. In August 1903 a fireman, Benjamin Davies, 38, was lost in the pit and no trace of him was ever found. In 1902 a rock blower was killed by stone falling from the side of a heading after a shot was fired to make a refuge hole, and in 1906 a screw clip on the endless rope broke on a 1 in 4 gradient and two full tubs ran back eighty yards, killing the haulage chargeman. By 1905 Nos. 2, 3 and 4 employed about 525 between them. Only 18 men worked there in 1933 and 10 at No. 1 in 1940, and the latest abandonment plans of Fishley workings are dated 1945.
Geology
The Cinder, Deep, Shallow and Yard seams of the South Staffordshire coalfield.
Workings
Pits Nos. 1 to 5, longwall and stall faces, endless-rope haulage on gradients up to 1 in 4, and a landsale wharf.
Closure
Ten men worked No. 1 in 1940; the latest abandonment plans are dated 1945.
What remains
Unknown.
Related mines
- Pelsall Hall Colliery — Neighbouring collieries near Pelsall.
Nearby mines
- Pelsall Hall Colliery — 1.1 miles (1.7 km) SE
- Great Wyrley Colliery — 1.6 miles (2.7 km) NW, Staffordshire
- Wyrley No. 3 Colliery — 1.8 miles (2.8 km) NW, Staffordshire
- Norton Green Colliery — 1.9 miles (3.1 km) N, Staffordshire
- Conduit Colliery — 2.4 miles (3.8 km) N, Staffordshire
Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (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.
- Fishley Colliery, Bloxwich, was worked by the Fishley Colliery Co. Ltd through pits Nos. 1 to 5. 1,2
- Fishley employed 734 men in 1894, 880 in 1896 and 845 in 1900. 1
- In August 1903 a fireman, Benjamin Davies, was lost in Fishley Colliery and no trace of him was found. 1
- In January 1902 a rock blower at Fishley, Pelsall, was killed by stone falling from the side of a heading after a shot. 2
- Abandonment plans of Fishley workings are dated from 1891 to 1945. 3,4
Sources
- (primary) Fishley Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
- (secondary) NMRS mining deaths: George Hewitt, Fishley, 1902 — Northern Mine Research Society (mining deaths database)
- (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21925561: Fishley, abandoned 1891 — British Geological Survey
- (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21936483: Fishley, abandoned 1945 — British Geological Survey
Record created: 21 October 2026 · Last researched: 21 October 2026