Shortwood Colliery

Overview

Shortwood, near Pucklechurch in the Bristol coalfield, worked the Hard Vein with a handful of men — ten of them in the 1900 return. Handel Cossham bought it in 1871 and sank a new shaft, after which it was known as Parkfield South Pit, and by 1899 it was kept only for pumping and ventilation. It went down with Parkfield in 1936. Its worst recorded accident is much older: two men drowned in the shaft in 1852 when water came in from old workings for which there were no plans.

History

The colliery is thought to have been sunk in the late eighteenth century, and the deaths recorded here reach back to the early 1850s. On 6 December 1852 William Davis, a collier of nineteen, was drowned in the shaft by water from old workings; the inspectors' note on it is blunt — no plans and no precautions — and records two killed. Samuel Bennett, 33, fell down the pit on 21 January 1853 when the engine wheels broke, and T. Buxton, a banksman of 25, fell down the shaft from the surface in November 1858. In 1871 the colliery was acquired by Handel Cossham, who was already working Parkfield a little to the south. Cossham sank a new shaft here and the working became known as Parkfield South Pit. Cossham died in 1890 and his pits were sold; Parkfield and its satellites went to Bristol United Collieries, which formed the Bedminster, Easton, Kingswood and Parkfield Collieries Ltd to manage them, and in 1914 to Sir Frank Beauchamp of the Radstock collieries, under the East Bristol Collieries Ltd. The Mines Inspectors' returns show how small Shortwood had become by then. It employed 32 people in 1896 and ten in 1900, working the Hard seam, and 92 in 1905. By 1899 it was being used only for pumping and ventilation for the larger pit. Parkfield closed on 15 August 1936, flooding having become a problem and pumping costs having risen against falling reserves, and Shortwood went with it.

Geology

Shortwood worked the Bristol coalfield near Pucklechurch. The seam returned throughout is the Hard, given as the Hard Vein in 1905. The neighbouring Parkfield shaft was 840 feet deep but worked only the upper series of veins — the Hard, the Top, the Hollybush and the Great — and the coal was good enough for gas manufacture as well as house use.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

A shaft of unrecorded depth reaching back to the eighteenth century, and a second sunk by Handel Cossham after 1871 which gave the working its later name of Parkfield South Pit. From 1899 the pit was used only for pumping and ventilation for Parkfield.

Closure

Shortwood closed with Parkfield on 15 August 1936, the larger pit having become uneconomic as flooding worsened, pumping costs rose and reserves fell.

What remains

No account of the colliery site as it stands today has been found in the sources read for this record. Brandy Bottom Colliery, part of the same Parkfield complex, is a scheduled ancient monument.

Nearby mines

• Parkfield Colliery — 0.6 km S, Bristol
• Wick Ochre Mines — 3.2 km S
• Ram Hill Colliery — 3.6 km N, Gloucestershire
• Serridge Pit — 4.1 km N, Gloucestershire
• Coalpit Heath Colliery — 4.6 km N

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• Shortwood was acquired in 1871 by Handel Cossham, owner of the nearby Parkfield Colliery, and a new shaft was sunk, the working becoming known as Parkfield South Pit. By 1899 it was being used only for pumping and ventilation, and it closed along with Parkfield in 1936. ¹
• William Davis, a collier of nineteen, was drowned in the shaft on 6 December 1852 by water from old workings. The Durham Mining Museum's note on the entry reads 'No plans and no precautions' and records two killed, though it names only Davis. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Parkfield Colliery — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Shortwood Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 11 September 2026