Ram Hill Colliery

Overview

A well-preserved early Coalpit Heath coalfield colliery, sunk between 1830 and 1840, the scene of a fatal 1855 rope failure, and now a scheduled monument illustrating the transition from horse-powered to steam winding.

History

Ram Hill Colliery, near the village of Coalpit Heath in South Gloucestershire, was served from 1828 by a dramway built to carry coal from the East Bristol coalfield down to Bristol and the River Avon at Keynsham. The colliery itself was sunk between 1830 and 1840 by the Coalpit Heath Colliery Company, its shaft eventually reaching 177 metres (580 feet) to work the High, Hard and Holly Bush seams. On 5 April 1855, colliers Job Dando (28) and George Rolph (24) were being drawn up No. 2 Ram Hill Pit when the winding rope, which had a joint or clasp in it, came loose and struck the drum violently before breaking; Dando died instantly after falling some 50 fathoms to the bottom of the shaft, and Rolph died twenty minutes later from his injuries after being carried home. Mr Mackworth, the Government Inspector of Mines, condemned the equipment afterward without qualification: 'A rope with a join in it ought never to be used for drawing men up the pit.' Dando left a widow, Mary, and four young children, who supported themselves afterward as a house servant and later a charwoman; the accident drew significant national and local newspaper coverage and fed public concern over mining safety more widely. The colliery closed in 1860, and the Great Western Railway acquired the site in 1900, leaving it largely undisturbed ever since -- a rare survival illustrating the period's transition from horse-powered to steam winding.

Workings

Worked the High, Hard and Holly Bush seams from a shaft eventually reaching 177 metres, initially wound by a horse gin -- thought to have had a conical roof and one or two horses -- later supplemented by a horizontal steam engine.

Closure

Closed in 1860; acquired by the Great Western Railway in 1900 and left largely undisturbed thereafter.

What remains

A rare and largely undisturbed survival, now a Scheduled Monument, with a stone-lined shaft, the footprint of the horse gin, engine house and boiler house ruins, a reservoir, coal bunkers, and sleeper blocks from the dramway, including a surviving arch some 2.4 metres high at its terminus.

A stone-lined shaft, horse gin footprint, engine and boiler house ruins, a reservoir, coal bunkers, and dramway sleeper blocks and terminus arch.

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.

Disasters & major incidents

• Ram Hill Colliery Rope Failure (1855)
  5 April 1855 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 2 fatalities
  A jointed winding rope broke while drawing two colliers up No. 2 Ram Hill Pit, killing both, and drew a government inspector's outright condemnation of the practice.

Recorded claims

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

• Ram Hill Colliery was sunk between 1830 and 1840 by the Coalpit Heath Colliery Company, its shaft eventually reaching 177 metres (580 feet) to work the High, Hard and Holly Bush seams. ¹
• On 5 April 1855, colliers Job Dando (28) and George Rolph (24) were killed at No. 2 Ram Hill Pit when a jointed winding rope came loose, struck the drum and broke, dropping the cage some 50 fathoms; the Government Inspector of Mines condemned the use of a jointed rope for drawing men outright. ²
• The colliery closed in 1860; the Great Western Railway acquired the site in 1900, leaving it largely undisturbed and now recognised as a rare, nationally important survival illustrating the transition from horse to steam winding. ^1,3

Sources

1. (primary) Ram Hill Colliery and dramway, Westerleigh and Coalpit Heath (Historic England list entry 1021386, via Ancient Monuments mirror) — Historic England
2. (secondary) 'Killed in a Coalpit' – Ram Hill – seeing the place where it happened — Bristol History
3. (secondary) Friends of Ram Hill Colliery — Friends of Ram Hill Colliery

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