Huish Colliery

Overview

A Radstock colliery in the Somerset coalfield, first sunk in 1820 and closed in 1912, owned in its last years with Writhlington and Foxcote and merged with them into one colliery. Its site is now a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest.

History

Huish Colliery stood near Radstock in the Somerset coalfield. It was first sunk in 1820 and was at work from the 1820s, with an inclined railway connecting the pit to the railway. In 1896 it was owned, together with the neighbouring Writhlington and Foxcote pits, by the Writhlington, Huish and Foxcote Colliery Company. By 1908 the owner was Writhlington Collieries Company Limited, and Upper and Lower Writhlington, Huish and Foxcote had been merged into one colliery. A combined abandonment plan of the Huish, Writhlington, Foxcote, Shoscombe and Woodborough workings, in the Top Little, Under Little, Middle, New (Bull), Slyving and Nine Inch seams, is dated 1911, and Huish closed in 1912.

The colliery site is now Huish Colliery Quarry, a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest of 0.8 hectares notified in 1985. Lower Jurassic rocks there rest on surfaces from which much of the Lias was removed by erosion: the whole of the Sinemurian Stage and nearly all of the Hettangian are missing, while the Jamesoni Zone limestones are thicker and better developed than at any comparable site in the Mendip Hills.

Geology

Coal Measures of the Somerset coalfield, worked in the Top Little, Under Little, Middle, New (Bull), Slyving and Nine Inch seams; at the surface, Lower Jurassic limestones of the Jamesoni Zone.

Workings

A pit linked to the railway by an inclined railway; latterly worked as one colliery with Writhlington and Foxcote.

Closure

Closed in 1912, after it had been merged with Writhlington and Foxcote into one colliery; the combined abandonment plan is dated 1911.

What remains

The site is Huish Colliery Quarry, a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1985.

Redevelopment

Designated a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1985.

Related mines

• Writhlington Colliery — Owned with Writhlington from at least 1896 and merged with it into one colliery.

Recorded claims

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

• First sunk in 1820 and closed in 1912. ^1,2
• An inclined railway connected the pit to the railway. ²
• Owned in 1896 by the Writhlington, Huish and Foxcote Colliery Company, and by 1908 by Writhlington Collieries Company Limited, when Upper and Lower Writhlington, Huish and Foxcote were merged into one colliery. ^1,3,4
• A combined abandonment plan of the Huish, Writhlington, Foxcote, Shoscombe and Woodborough workings is dated 1911. ⁵
• The site, Huish Colliery Quarry, is a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1985. ^2,6

Sources

1. (secondary) Huish Colliery — Grace's Guide
2. (secondary) Huish Colliery — Bristol Railway Archive
3. (secondary) Writhlington — Wikipedia
4. (primary) Writhlington Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Huish, Writhlington, Foxcote, Shoscombe, Woodborough (abandoned 1911) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
6. (secondary) Huish Colliery Quarry — Wikipedia

Record created: 17 October 2026 · Last researched: 17 October 2026