Norwood Green Colliery

Overview

A small colliery near Wyke on the western edge of the Yorkshire coalfield, sunk in the 1870s, worked as Flathers Pit for the Low Moor ironworks until 1895, then reopened in 1930 with a drift into the Black Bed and Better Bed and closed by the National Coal Board in 1959.

History

Norwood Green lay near Wyke, on the western edge of the Yorkshire coalfield, where the Bradford collieries worked the lower coal measures beneath the Elland Flags. The Norwood Green Coal Company sank the first shaft between 1873 and 1876 but gave the mine up in 1880. Hird, Dawson and Hardy of the Low Moor ironworks took it on from 1882, probably sank a second shaft, and worked it as Flathers Pit, sending its coal to the ironworks along the company's tramways; as the Low Moor Iron Company they ran it until 1895. It worked the Black Bed at 69 metres and the Better Bed at 105½ metres, the latter a dense, bright, low-ash coal prized for smelting iron. After thirty-five years' disuse Norwood Green Collieries Ltd reopened the shafts in 1930 and drove a steep drift, working the Black Bed and from 1934 the Better Bed, with about 142 men underground and 33 on the surface between 1935 and 1945; it raised 54,000 tons of gas, manufacturing and steam coal in 1947. The National Coal Board took it over that year. The Better Bed was given up in 1958, and work in the Black Bed ended when the mine closed in April 1959.

Geology

Lower Coal Measures of the Bradford area beneath the Elland Flags: the Black Bed (0.55-0.74 m, soft steam and house coal) at 69 metres and the Better Bed (up to 0.9 m, very low ash and sulphur, used for iron smelting) at 105.5 metres.

Workings

Two shafts (the second probably sunk in the 1880s, as Flathers Pit) and, from 1930, a steeply inclined drift.

Closure

The Better Bed was given up in 1958 and the mine closed in April 1959; plans of both seams are dated 31 March 1960.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The NCB closed the mine in April 1959. (disputed) ¹
• The Black Bed and Better Bed plans are dated 31 March 1960. (disputed) ³

Recorded claims

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

• The Norwood Green Coal Company sank the first shaft between 1873 and 1876. ¹
• From 1882 to 1895 Hird, Dawson and Hardy, later the Low Moor Iron Company, worked it as Flathers Pit for the Low Moor ironworks. ¹
• Norwood Green Collieries Ltd reopened the shafts in 1930 and sank a steeply inclined drift. ^1,2
• In 1947 it produced 54,000 tons of gas, manufacturing and steam coal and employed 201 men. ²
• The NCB closed the mine in April 1959. (disputed) ¹
• The Black Bed and Better Bed plans are dated 31 March 1960. (disputed) ³

Sources

1. (secondary) Norwood Green Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Norwood Green Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) BGS mine plans: Norwood Green, Black Bed, abandoned 31 March 1960 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026