Ox Close Colliery

Overview

A short-lived Ossett colliery sunk between 1873 and 1878 to work the Joan and Flockton Thin beds, owned last by the Flockton Coal Company and closed in 1881.

History

Ox Close Colliery was a short-lived pit at Ossett, west of Wakefield, opened in 1873 and closed in 1881. Its shafts were sunk between 1873 and 1878. Whitworth and Company owned it from 1873 to 1875, and Tolson and Whitworth from 1876 to 1880; the partners formed a limited company in September 1877. By 1880 the owner was the Flockton Coal Company Limited.

The colliery held a lease of two beds of coal, the Joan Bed and the Flockton Thin Bed, over an area of 48 acres. It closed in 1881, only three years after its sinking was finished.

Geology

West Yorkshire coal measures: the Joan and Flockton Thin beds.

Workings

Shafts sunk between 1873 and 1878.

Closure

Closed in 1881.

What remains

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Ox Close Colliery opened in 1873, was sunk between 1873 and 1878, and closed in 1881. ^1,2
• Whitworth and Company owned it from 1873 to 1875 and Tolson and Whitworth from 1876 to 1880. ¹
• By 1880 it belonged to the Flockton Coal Company Limited. ¹
• The colliery held a lease of the Joan and Flockton Thin beds over 48 acres. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Ossett coal mining (Ossett - the history of a Yorkshire town) — ossett.net
2. (secondary) Coal Mines in Yorkshire 1854: O — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 24 October 2026 · Last researched: 24 October 2026