Parkfield Colliery

Overview

A long-lived Kingswood-district Bristol coalfield colliery, sunk by the industrialist Handel Cossham in 1851 and worked until 1936, whose Brandy Bottom engine house survives as a scheduled monument.

History

Parkfield Colliery was sunk in 1851 under the ownership of the industrialist and future MP Handel Cossham, reaching coal in 1853 at a shaft depth of 840 feet; only the upper series of the coalfield's veins were worked here -- the Hard, Top, Hollybush and Great veins -- producing coal noted for its quality, prized for both gas manufacture and household use. By 1896 the colliery employed 292 men underground and 49 on the surface under manager J. T. Onions, its workings served by over 16,000 feet of underground rail and powered by winding engines and Lancashire boilers. After Cossham's death in 1890 the pit was sold, along with his Deep Pit, South Pit and Speedwell collieries, to Bristol United Collieries, which in 1900 formed the Bedminster, Easton, Kingswood and Parkfield Collieries Ltd to manage its holdings; in 1914 the pit passed again, to Sir Frank Beauchamp -- already a substantial owner of collieries around Radstock -- whose new East Bristol Collieries Ltd operated it thereafter. By the 1930s worsening flooding, increasing pumping costs and dwindling reserves had made the pit uneconomic, and it closed on 15 August 1936.

Workings

Worked the upper series of the coalfield's veins -- the Hard, Top, Hollybush and Great veins -- from an 840-foot shaft, with over 16,000 feet of underground rail and steam-powered winding and pumping.

Closure

Closed on 15 August 1936 as flooding, pumping costs and dwindling reserves made the pit uneconomic.

What remains

The colliery's Brandy Bottom engine house survives and is a scheduled ancient monument.

The Brandy Bottom engine house, scheduled as an ancient monument.

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.

• Parkfield was sunk in 1851 by Handel Cossham, reaching coal in 1853 at a depth of 840 feet, and worked the upper series of the coalfield's veins -- the Hard, Top, Hollybush and Great veins -- producing coal valued for gas manufacture and household use. ¹
• By 1896 the colliery employed 292 men underground and 49 on the surface under manager J. T. Onions, served by over 16,000 feet of underground rail. ¹
• After Cossham's 1890 death the pit passed to Bristol United Collieries and then, in 1914, to Sir Frank Beauchamp's East Bristol Collieries Ltd, before closing on 15 August 1936 as flooding and dwindling reserves made it uneconomic. ¹
• The colliery's Brandy Bottom engine house survives and is a scheduled ancient monument. ²

Images

Sources

1. (secondary) Parkfield Colliery — Wikipedia
2. (primary) Brandy Bottom Colliery, part of Parkfield Colliery, Pucklechurch (Historic England list entry 1019400) — Historic England

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