Highgate Colliery

Overview

A Dearne valley colliery at Highgate, on the west side of Goldthorpe, sunk in 1916 by the Highgate Colliery Co. Ltd to the shallow Shafton seam at about 46 metres. Because the seam was so near the surface it was wet, and the coal was got by hand on the pillar-and-stall system to avoid breaking the strata and letting more water in. The pit stopped in March 1925 and restarted the next year, replaced its shafts with drifts in 1948, was connected underground to the neighbouring Goldthorpe Colliery in 1966 so that all its coal surfaced there, and was formally merged with Goldthorpe in March 1968. The Highgate side of the combined mine closed in 1985; industrial estates now occupy the site.

History

The Highgate Colliery Co. Ltd, a family concern whose directors were the Elliotts of Lepton near Huddersfield, began in 1916 by working the thin Highgate coal, 0.45 metres thick at a depth of 14.6 metres, while its shafts were sunk to the Shafton seam at 45.7 metres; the National Coal Board's own 1967 account gives the Shafton at 50 yards. Coal went out by the Hickleton Colliery branch of the Dearne Valley line, shared with Hickleton Main. The company's registered office was at Goldthorpe and in 1923 the pit employed 82 people underground and 27 on the surface under the manager W. Rhodes. The List of Mines records Highgate as discontinued on 10 March 1925, but work resumed the following year, though the underground workforce stayed low until 1929. Because the Shafton was shallow and wet, the coal was hand-got on the pillar-and-stall system so that the strata were not broken and the water inflow increased; in the 1930s pairs of electrically powered Siskol machines were introduced, one undercutting the coal and the other shearing it, which gave a higher proportion of round coal. The company was reconstructed as the Highgate Colliery Co. (1943) Ltd and worked the pit until nationalisation in 1947. In 1948 the National Coal Board replaced the shafts with surface drifts, which carried the output until 1966. Trials of longwall mining in the early 1950s failed because of bad roof and water, but as the workings moved down dip under greater cover longwall faces were worked successfully. In 1966 Highgate was linked underground with Goldthorpe Colliery, itself served by a 2,000-yard surface drift since 1958, and from then on all Highgate's coal surfaced at Goldthorpe; the NCB's 1967 leaflet gives Highgate 620 men producing 600,000 tons a year. The two pits were formally merged as Goldthorpe/Highgate in March 1968 under one colliery general manager, and the Highgate section closed in 1985, a year the parish's own history calls the lowest point in the village's story. Goldthorpe itself worked on until 1994.

Geology

Highgate worked the Shafton seam of the Upper Coal Measures, lying only about 46 metres below the surface at the pit and dipping eastwards under increasing cover, with the thin Highgate coal above it at 14.6 metres. The shallow cover made the Shafton wet: breaking the strata by taking too much coal increased the inflow, which is why pillar-and-stall working was kept and why the first longwall trials in the 1950s failed on roof and water before succeeding further down dip. The abandonment plans in the national mine-plans catalogue also record a Five Quarter seam plan for Highgate, dated 31 December 1963.

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

Workings

Two shafts sunk in 1916-17 to the Shafton at 45.7 metres, replaced in 1948 by surface drifts, which in turn were superseded from 1966 by the underground connection to Goldthorpe through which all coal was wound. Hand-got pillar-and-stall working in the shallow Shafton, Siskol undercutting and shearing machines from the 1930s, and longwall faces once the workings had gained cover down dip. Coal left by the Hickleton Colliery branch of the Dearne Valley line.

Closure

Merged with Goldthorpe Colliery in March 1968 and closed as the Highgate section of Goldthorpe/Highgate in 1985, in the aftermath of the miners' strike; no separate account of the decision has been found.

What remains

New industrial estates have been built on the colliery site in recent years, according to the parish history; the spoil heap that ran along the west side of Goldthorpe has been landscaped as Phoenix Park.

Redevelopment

Industrial estates on the colliery site; the Goldthorpe spoil heap landscaped as Phoenix Park.

Related mines

• Goldthorpe Colliery — Linked underground in 1966 so that all Highgate's coal surfaced at Goldthorpe, and formally merged as Goldthorpe/Highgate in March 1968.

Nearby mines

• Goldthorpe Colliery — 0.7 km E
• Hickleton Main Colliery — 1.0 km NE
• Barnburgh Main Colliery — 2.6 km SE
• Manvers Main Colliery — 3.8 km SW
• Wath Main Colliery — 4.0 km SW

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.

• In 1916 and 1917 the Highgate Colliery Co. Ltd worked the 0.45 m Highgate coal at 14.6 m while its shafts were sunk to the Shafton seam at 45.7 m. ¹
• The NCB's 1967 leaflet describes Highgate as sunk in 1916 to work the Shafton at 50 yards. ²
• The List of Mines records Highgate discontinued on 10 March 1925; work resumed the following year, with a low underground workforce until 1929. ¹
• The Highgate Colliery Co. Ltd had its registered office at Goldthorpe; its 1923 directors were B., G., R. and S. Elliott of Lepton, Huddersfield, the manager was W. Rhodes and the pit employed 82 underground and 27 on the surface. ³
• Because the shallow Shafton was wet, hand-got pillar-and-stall working was used to avoid breaking the strata and increasing the inflow; in the 1930s pairs of electric Siskol machines undercut and sheared the coal. ¹
• The company was restructured as the Highgate Colliery Co. (1943) Ltd and worked the pit until nationalisation. ^1,3
• In 1948 the shafts were replaced by surface drifts, which carried the output until 1966. ^1,2
• Longwall trials in the early 1950s failed on bad roof and water; longwall faces later succeeded as the workings gained cover down dip. ¹
• In 1966 Highgate was linked underground with Goldthorpe and all its coal thereafter surfaced there; the NCB gave the pit 620 men producing 600,000 tons a year in 1967. ^1,2,4
• Highgate was officially merged with Goldthorpe in March 1968 and that section of the mine closed in 1985. ^1,5
• Highgate shared the Hickleton Colliery branch of the LMS Dearne Valley line. ¹
• The national mine-plans catalogue holds a Highgate abandonment plan for the Five Quarter seam dated 31 December 1963, alongside surface plans for Highgate and Goldthorpe/Highgate. ⁶
• Industrial estates have opened on the site of Highgate Colliery in the last ten years. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Highgate Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum: Goldthorpe Colliery — Durham Mining Museum (quoting the NCB leaflet Coal in Doncaster Area, August 1967)
3. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum: Highgate Colliery Co., Ltd. — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) Yorkshire retro: A rich seam of mines, trains and cinemas in the history of Goldthorpe — Yorkshire Post
5. (secondary) Mining Heritage — The Parish of Goldthorpe and Hickleton
6. (primary) Highgate: Five Quarter seam abandonment plan (mine plans catalogue) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 8 September 2026 · Last researched: 9 September 2026