Pildacre Colliery

Overview

John Naylor and Company's colliery at Ossett, west of Wakefield, opened in 1872 and closed by an inrush of water in November 1910.

History

Pildacre Colliery worked coal at Ossett, west of Wakefield. Naylor and Company opened it in 1872, and by 1896 John Naylor and Company employed 232 men underground and 25 at the surface there, with S. Broadbent as manager and J. Mann as under-manager. It worked the Flockton, Joan, Low Haigh Moor, Top Haigh Moor and Haigh Moor seams.

In February 1893 the company's chairman, Edwin Mitchell, told the half-yearly meeting of shareholders at Pildacre that the colliery could now raise about 1,500 tons a week from the Joan and Flockton beds, that a Cannel seam of very fine quality had been opened out since the previous August, and that the company owned over fifty wagons. There had been no serious or fatal accident at Pildacre for about seven years, and he told the shareholders that a man's life was of more consequence than a dividend.

Water ended it. The colliery closed in November 1910 after an inrush, and its Flockton and Joan workings were abandoned on 10 November 1910. The site stood idle from 1910 to 1933, with further abandonments in September 1936 and July 1944, and the old pit remained a source of water for Ossett.

Geology

West Yorkshire coal measures: the Flockton, Joan, Low Haigh Moor, Top Haigh Moor and Haigh Moor seams, with a Cannel seam opened in 1892.

Workings

Shafts working the Joan, Flockton, Haigh Moor and Cannel seams; the company ran its own wagons.

Closure

Closed in November 1910 after an inrush of water; the Flockton and Joan were abandoned on 10 November 1910; further abandonments in 1936 and 1944.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Whinny Moor Colliery — Both belonged to John Naylor and Company and shared a manager, S. Broadbent, in 1896.

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 colliery closed in November 1910 after an inrush of water. (disputed) ^1,3,4
• Pildacre pit shut because of flooding in 1875. (disputed) ⁵

Recorded claims

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

• Naylor and Company opened Pildacre Colliery in 1872. ^1,2
• In 1896 John Naylor and Company employed 232 men underground and 25 at the surface. ¹
• In 1893 the colliery could raise about 1,500 tons a week from the Joan and Flockton beds, and a Cannel seam had just been opened out. ¹
• The colliery closed in November 1910 after an inrush of water. (disputed) ^1,3,4
• Pildacre pit shut because of flooding in 1875. (disputed) ⁵
• The old pit remained a source of water for Ossett. ⁵

Sources

1. (secondary) Ossett coal mining (Ossett - the history of a Yorkshire town) — ossett.net
2. (secondary) Coal Mines in Yorkshire 1854: P — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: PILDACRE, Flockton, abandoned 10 November 1910 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: PILDACRE, Joan, abandoned 10 November 1910 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
5. (secondary) Ossett — Wikipedia

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