Pilsley Colliery

Overview

A large north-east Derbyshire colliery at Pilsley, opened in 1866 or 1867 and worked by the Pilsley Colliery Company and the National Coal Board until 1957.

History

Pilsley Colliery stood a short distance north of Pilsley station, in the north-east Derbyshire coalfield near Chesterfield. It was opened in 1866 or 1867, and the village largely grew on its coal. At its peak it had six shafts and employed 945 men, raising 1,200 tons of coal a shift. In the early twentieth century it belonged to the Pilsley Colliery Company, and the accident returns of 1900 to 1914 name its Nos. 1, 2 and 3 pits.

The colliery had extensive sidings on both sides of the Great Central main line, and the Midland Railway reached it by a branch about two and a half miles long from its Erewash Valley line near Doe Hill. Under the National Coal Board its seams were abandoned one by one: the Yard in September 1949, the Tupton in December 1952, the Low Main in January 1954 and the Threequarter on 27 April 1957, when the colliery closed. Two pit wheels now stand in the village as a memorial, with a plaque from the parish council thanking Pilsley's miners for the warmth and the light.

Geology

North-east Derbyshire coal measures: the Threequarter, Tupton, Low Main and Yard seams.

Workings

Six shafts at its peak, Nos. 1, 2 and 3 pits named in the early 1900s; rail sidings on both sides of the Great Central line and a Midland branch from Doe Hill.

Closure

Closed in April 1957; the Threequarter, its last seam, was abandoned on 27 April 1957.

What remains

Two pit wheels stand in the village as a memorial.

What's uncertain

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

• Pilsley Colliery opened in 1867. (disputed) ^1,2
• Pilsley Colliery opened in 1866. (disputed) ³

Recorded claims

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

• Pilsley Colliery opened in 1867. (disputed) ^1,2
• Pilsley Colliery opened in 1866. (disputed) ³
• At its peak the colliery had six shafts and employed 945 men, raising 1,200 tons a shift. ³
• In the early twentieth century it belonged to the Pilsley Colliery Company. ⁴
• It had extensive sidings on both sides of the Great Central main line and a Midland branch from near Doe Hill. ⁵
• The colliery closed in 1957, its Threequarter seam abandoned on 27 April 1957. ^1,2,6
• The Yard was abandoned in September 1949 and the Tupton in December 1952. ^7,8

Sources

1. (secondary) List of collieries in Derbyshire — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) NCB Collieries - England (Northern Mine Research Society) — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (observational) Remembering... in Pilsley (Neil Theasby, 2015) — Geograph
4. (secondary) NMRS deaths database: Willie Slatcher, Pilsley, 13 May 1910 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (secondary) Pilsley railway station — Wikipedia
6. (primary) BGS mine plan: PILSLEY, Threequarter, abandoned 27 April 1957 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
7. (primary) BGS mine plan: PILSLEY, Tupton, abandoned 10 December 1952 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
8. (primary) BGS mine plan: PILSLEY, Yard, abandoned September 1949 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

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