Goyt's Moss Colliery

Overview

A moorland colliery at the head of the Goyt, worked by some two hundred shallow shafts and later by adits, whose coal went chiefly to the Duke of Devonshire's lime kilns above Buxton. Mining began in the early 17th century and was at its height between about 1790 and 1810; the abandonment certificate of 1893 gives the reason as the ground above water level being worked out.

History

Mining in the Goyt's Moss basin began in the early 17th century, at first by simple pits into coal lying just below the surface. Access was by hollow way until the Buxton to Macclesfield turnpike was built in 1759, which made larger-scale working practical, and a link road cut through the valley side to the Buxton to Leek turnpike in 1778 opened the south-western ground. The main period of production came between about 1790 and 1810. Before 1780 the Castids Common area west of the Goyt lay in Cheshire and was worked as a separate enterprise; after 1780 both sides were controlled by the Duke of Devonshire, and because the coal was better suited to industry than to the hearth most of it went to his lime kilns at Grin Low above Buxton. The Chatsworth records show that in 1790 only twenty-three people were permanently employed at the shafts, about half of them underground. Mining by closely spaced shafts remained the rule until the mid-19th century, by which time all the coal that could be reached that way had gone; from then extraction was by adit, and the reserves were exhausted by 1893. The colliery was formally closed on 31 December 1893, the abandonment certificate giving the reason as 'area above water level worked out'.

Geology

Two coal seams run in a belt from Burbage on the edge of Buxton to Goyt's Moss, the upper known as the Goyt or Yard seam. The coal was of a quality better suited to lime burning and other industrial use than to domestic fires.

Workings

A 1994 archaeological survey identified thirty-nine shafts in the north-western part of the colliery alone, in three phases, and a 1997 survey of the wider moss plotted some two hundred pits and shafts. The earliest shafts lie in the south-east and are thought to be of the early and mid-18th century. Coal was drawn at first by hand winches, called stowes, but as the shafts deepened in the 1770s and 1780s horse gins took over, both the cog and rung gin, with its gear directly over the shaft, and the larger whim gin, where the horse walked to one side; the compacted circles both left can still be read on the ground. Most shafts of the later phases are linked by cart-width access tracks that survive as raised causeways, built outward from the turnpikes shaft by shaft, changing direction at each one; many shafts have little spoil beside them because it went into the causeways, while where shafts stand close together the spoil heaps served as working areas for loading carts. Some shafts retain the stone 'gining' that lined them, usually collapsed into the shaft to seal it once the coal was out.

Closure

The shallow reserves were exhausted and the colliery was formally closed on the last day of 1893, the abandonment certificate recording that the area above water level had been worked out.

What remains

A sample area of about 17 hectares in the north-western part of the colliery is a scheduled monument within the Peak District National Park. The shafts, gin circles, spoil heaps and causeways survive as earthworks across open moorland; the most dangerous shafts have been fenced with wooden barriers and a sign beside a stile warns walkers.

Thirty-nine shafts in the scheduled area with their gin circles and spoil heaps, the raised causeway tracks, the 1778 link road cutting, and stone shaft linings collapsed into sealed shafts.

Redevelopment

None. The moss is open moorland crossed by the Buxton to Macclesfield road.

Nearby mines

• Danebower Colliery — 1.9 km S, Cheshire
• Harpur Hill Quarry — 5.1 km E
• Cowdale Quarry — 6.5 km E
• Hough Hole Colliery — 8.4 km NW, Cheshire
• Tunstead Quarry — 9.1 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.

• Mining in the Goyt's Moss basin began in the early 17th century, and the main period of production came between about 1790 and 1810. ¹
• Records kept at Chatsworth show that in 1790 only twenty-three people were permanently employed at the Goyt's Moss shafts, about half of them underground. ²
• A 1994 survey identified thirty-nine shafts in the north-western part of the colliery in three phases, and a 1997 survey of the wider moss plotted some two hundred pits and shafts. ^1,2
• The colliery was formally closed on 31 December 1893, the abandonment certificate giving the reason as 'area above water level worked out'. ²
• The coal was more suitable for industrial than domestic use and the majority was supplied to the Duke of Devonshire's limekilns at Grin Low to the south of Buxton. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Part of Goyt's Moss colliery, centred 220m south west of Derbyshire Bridge (List entry 1014868) — Historic England
2. (secondary) Goyt's Moss mines — Goyt Valley
3. (primary) Abandoned mine plan catalogue entry: GOYT — British Geological Survey

Record created: 22 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026