Mayshill Colliery

Location	Mayshill, Westerleigh, Gloucestershire — 51.5350, -2.4480 (approximate)
Commodity	Coal
Type	Coal
Worked	Producing coal prior to 1832 as one of three pits -- with Frog Lane and Nibley -- run by the Coalpit Heath Coal Co.–Closed by 1949, when coal in the wider Coalpit Heath district ran out.
Maximum depth	No reliable depth figure has yet been located.
Operators	Coalpit Heath Coal Co., National Coal Board (?–1949)
Status	Researched

Overview

One of three collieries -- with Frog Lane and Nibley -- run by the Coalpit Heath Coal Co. north of Bristol, giving its name to the hamlet of Mayshill and worked from before 1832 until the district's coal ran out by 1949.

History

Mayshill Colliery, worked from before 1832, was one of three collieries -- alongside Frog Lane and Nibley -- run by the Coalpit Heath Coal Co. in the small mining district north of Bristol. It gave its name to the hamlet of Mayshill (or Mays Hill) itself, in the parish of Westerleigh just off the Badminton Road between Coalpit Heath and Nibley, home to the New Inn, dating from 1580 and one of at least nine public houses once found across the parish. Coal in the wider district was exhausted by 1949, when the National Coal Board closed both Mayshill Colliery and the neighbouring Frog Lane pit; the area has since become a sought-after place to live.

Workings

Worked as one of the Coalpit Heath Coal Co.'s group of pits, alongside Frog Lane and Nibley.

Closure

Closed by 1949 when the National Coal Board closed both Mayshill and the neighbouring Frog Lane pit as the district's coal reserves ran out.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Recorded claims

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

Mayshill was worked from before 1832 as one of three collieries -- with Frog Lane and Nibley -- run by the Coalpit Heath Coal Co. ¹
The colliery gave its name to the hamlet of Mayshill (or Mays Hill) in the parish of Westerleigh, home to the New Inn, dating from 1580 and one of at least nine public houses once found across the parish. ²
The National Coal Board closed Mayshill Colliery along with the neighbouring Frog Lane pit by 1949, as the district's coal reserves ran out. ²
The northern group of Coalpit Heath pits -- Frog Lane, Mayshill and Nibley -- were small-scale workings before the Bristol and Gloucestershire Railway reached them; the line was extended to serve the group after 1852 once they had been enlarged. ²

Sources

(secondary) Coalpit Heath — Wikishire
(secondary) Mayshill — Wikipedia

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 31 August 2026