Leycett Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Leycett near Madeley, west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, whose Fair Lady Pit was torn by a series of explosions culminating in the 1880 disaster that killed 62, and which, never profitable in its troubled geology, closed in 1957.

History

Leycett, also called Madeley Colliery, had four shafts in two pairs, the Fair Lady and Bang Up pits and the Harrison and Woodburn pits, and a colliery village. It was owned in 1875 by the Crewe Coal and Iron Company, later by the Silverdale Colliery Company, the Madeley Coal and Iron Company, the Madeley Coal, Coke and Brick (1905) Company and finally Madeley Collieries Ltd. A private railway linked it to the Crewe to Stafford main line near Madeley station.

Explosions of firedamp killed eight men on 12 January 1871 and eight again in the Fair Lady Pit on 12 September 1879 (see Disasters, below). On 21 January 1880 an explosion of gas in the Fair Lady Pit, which the Durham Mining Museum attributes to shot firing, killed 62, among them the manager, Mr Greener, and his son (see Disasters, below); the dead were buried at Madeley, Audley, Keele, Talke, Chesterton, Silverdale and further afield. Another explosion killed six in October 1883. The colliery grew to employ 1,686 in 1923, working the Banbury, Bullhurst, Rough Seven Feet, Ten Feet, Five Feet and Four Feet seams, but adverse geology meant it was never really profitable. Coal production ceased on 21 September 1957, most of the men moving to Hem Heath, and the last pumps were withdrawn on 25 July 1958.

Geology

The Seven Feet and Eight Feet Banbury, Bullhurst, Rough Seven Feet, Ten Feet, Five Feet, Four Feet, Hams and Ragman seams of the North Staffordshire coalfield; firedamp was met in the Fair Lady Pit, and adverse geology kept the colliery from being really profitable.

Workings

Four shafts, possibly two separate collieries: Fair Lady and Bang Up, and Harrison and Woodburn. The Fair Lady Pit was furnace-ventilated in 1879, with a fan planned. A private railway connected the colliery to the Crewe-Stafford line near Madeley station.

Closure

Production ceased on 21 September 1957 and dismantling ended with the withdrawal of the last pumps on 25 July 1958; most of the men were transferred to Hem Heath Colliery.

What remains

After closure most of the village was demolished and the site became part of the Bateswood opencast site.

Traces of the original North Staffordshire railway line from Silverdale, closed through subsidence in the 1870s, can still be followed near the Madeley site.

Related mines

• Hem Heath Colliery — When Leycett closed in 1957 most of its men were transferred to Hem Heath.

Disasters & major incidents

• Leycett Colliery explosion, 1871
  12 January 1871 · Explosion · 8 fatalities
  A collier named John Crooks fired a shot in the Ten Feet mine of the Independent pit at Leycett without the fireman's leave; the powder blew out of the hole, moved no coal, and fired the gas. The jury held Crooks was not to blame, because the rules did not stop him. The inspector, Thomas Wynne, called Leycett 'the most unfortunate colliery in the district' and blamed the system of driving many levels at once beyond the main air on nothing but pipes and brattice.
• Leycett Colliery explosion, 1879
  12 September 1879 · Explosion · 8 fatalities
  A firedamp explosion in the Fair Lady Pit at Leycett on 12 September 1879 killed eight men driving new roads on the north side. The manager had been away from the pit for ten days, the levels had been driven beyond their intended limit, and both he and the contractor were convicted afterwards.
• Leycett Colliery explosion, 1880
  21 January 1880 · Explosion · 62 fatalities
  At about half past eight on the morning of 21 January 1880 a blown-out shot fired firedamp in the Fair Lady pit at Leycett, the Crewe Coal and Iron Company's colliery near Newcastle-under-Lyme, and sixty-two of the seventy or so men below were killed. Among them were H. R. Greener, the manager appointed only in October after a previous explosion, and his son George, the underlooker. The jury found no blame attributable to anyone, and recommended that blasting with powder be discontinued altogether in fiery mines while men were working in them.
• Leycett Colliery explosion, 1883
  21 October 1883 · Explosion · 6 fatalities
  On Sunday 21 October 1883 an explosion at the Fair Lady Pit, Leycett, killed six men who were building off a gob fire for the Madeley Coal and Iron Company: the surveyor, the underlooker, the fireman and three miners. Three more were injured.

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery, also known as Leycett or Madeley, had four shafts (Harrison and Woodburn; Fair Lady and Bang Up), owned in 1875 by the Crewe Coal and Iron Company and later by the Silverdale Colliery Company, Madeley Coal and Brick (1905) and Madeley Collieries Ltd. ^1,2
• On 21 January 1880 an explosion of gas in the Fair Lady Pit of the Crewe Coal and Iron Company killed 62, including the manager, Mr Greener, and his son. ^1,3,4
• Employment rose from 465 in 1894 to 1,686 in 1923; seams included the Seven Feet Banbury, Bullhurst, Rough Seven Feet and Ten Feet. ¹
• Production ceased on 21 September 1957 and the last pumps were withdrawn on 25 July 1958; most men went to Hem Heath, and the site became part of the Bateswood opencast. ^3,2
• The national catalogue holds 'Madeley & Leycett Fair Lady & Bangup' plans for seams abandoned in 1957. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Fair Lady and Bang Up Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) A History of Madeley Colliery (Leycett), by Jim Worgan — North Staffordshire Mining Gazetteer (Apedale)
3. (secondary) Leycett Collieries and Disaster — Madeley Village
4. (secondary) Leycette Colliery Explosion – Newcastle-under-Lyme – 1880 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans catalogue: Madeley & Leycett, Fair Lady & Bangup (1957) — British Geological Survey
6. (secondary) Leycett Colliery Explosion – Newcastle-under-Lyme – 1879 — Northern Mine Research Society

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