Norton Hill Colliery

Overview

A Midsomer Norton colliery at the heart of the Somerset coalfield, sunk in 1903 and worked for over sixty years, whose 1908 explosion killed ten men and boys in a disputed incident that its own owners never fully accepted the official explanation for.

History

Norton Hill Old Pit was already being worked by 1839, with its own shafts sunk in 1846; the later, larger Norton Hill Colliery was sunk in 1903 alongside the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway just outside Midsomer Norton South station. At its peak the colliery employed over 600 people. On 9 April 1908, an explosion at the bottom of the Slyving Vein Incline killed ten men and boys, the youngest just fourteen, along with five horses (see Disasters, below). The colliery continued working for nearly six decades afterward, finally closing in 1966, one of the last two working pits in the whole North Somerset coalfield alongside Writhlington and Kilmersdon. The former colliery site has since been redeveloped for housing, including the Impact & Willowbrook Estate, built partly over the colliery's old seams; the site of its pit heads is now occupied by industrial premises. A community memorial near Mardons Social Club, developed with the Somerset Miners Welfare Trust, includes a miner sculpture and a coal truck marked with the colliery's name, commemorating at least 20 men known to have died working there across its history.

Workings

Worked from shafts sunk in 1903, including workings at the Slyving Vein Incline, where the colliery's fatal 1908 explosion occurred.

Closure

Closed in 1966, one of the last two working collieries in the North Somerset coalfield.

What remains

The former colliery site has been redeveloped for housing (the Impact & Willowbrook Estate) and industrial premises.

A community memorial near Mardons Social Club includes a miner sculpture and a coal truck marked with the colliery's name, commemorating at least 20 men known to have died working there.

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.

• Norton Hill Old Pit was worked by 1839, with shafts sunk in 1846; the later, larger Norton Hill Colliery was sunk in 1903 next to the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway. ¹
• At its peak the colliery employed over 600 people. ¹
• The colliery closed in 1966, one of the last two working pits in the North Somerset coalfield, alongside Writhlington and Kilmersdon. ¹
• A community memorial near Mardons Social Club, developed with the Somerset Miners Welfare Trust, includes a miner sculpture and a coal truck marked with the colliery's name, commemorating at least 20 men known to have died working there. ²

Sources

1. (secondary) Norton Hill Colliery Explosion - Midsomer Norton - 1908 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Somerset Miners Welfare Trust hands over Norton Hill Colliery Miner to local community — Radstock Times

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 27 August 2026