Silverwood Colliery

Overview

A large Rotherham colliery sunk by the steelmaking firm John Brown and Company, twice visited by reigning monarchs and marked by tragedy in a 1966 underground train collision, before closing in 1994 and being reclaimed as parkland and a nature reserve.

History

Dalton Main Collieries Ltd was floated on the London Stock Exchange in December 1899 by the steelmaking firm John Brown and Company, to combine the existing Roundwood Colliery at Parkgate with a newly sunk mine at Silverwood, between Thrybergh and Ravenfield. The first shaft at Silverwood began sinking in 1900, and coal was being worked by 1904; the new colliery was connected underground to Roundwood in 1908 and linked to it by what became known as John Brown's Private Railway. By 1909, when Silverwood reached full production, John Brown and Company was sole proprietor of the enterprise. Originally called Dalton Main after the parent company, the pit was renamed Silverwood for the local woodland where it stood. The colliery received two royal visits. King George V and Queen Mary arrived in July 1912, but cut their visit short on learning of that day's disaster at nearby Cadeby Colliery. A very different visit came on 31 July 1975, when Queen Elizabeth II toured Silverwood and personally cut coal underground, with the royal party staying overnight nearby on the Royal Train in the colliery sidings. The pit's worst tragedy came on 3 February 1966, when a runaway materials train collided underground with a train carrying miners (see Disasters, below). Ownership passed from Dalton Main Collieries to the National Coal Board on nationalisation in 1947. Silverwood closed in 1994, with its remaining coal reserves worked from the neighbouring Maltby Main Colliery. Site reclamation was completed in 2006, with the former spoil tip grassed over, a formerly hazardous slurry lagoon converted into a freshwater nature reserve, and tree planting carried out by the Forestry Commission the following year.

Workings

Twin shafts sunk from 1900, connected underground to the neighbouring Roundwood Colliery in 1908 and linked to it by John Brown's Private Railway.

Closure

The colliery closed in 1994; its remaining workable reserves were transferred to and worked from the neighbouring Maltby Main Colliery.

What remains

The site has been fully reclaimed: the former spoil tip is grassed over, a once-hazardous slurry lagoon is now a freshwater nature reserve, and part of the site has been developed as the Woodlaithes Village residential area. Reclamation was completed in 2006, with further tree planting by the Forestry Commission in 2007.

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

• Silverwood Colliery Paddy Mail Disaster
  3 February 1966 · Haulage / Transport · 10 fatalities
  A runaway underground materials train collided with a man-riding train carrying miners to their shift at Silverwood Colliery, killing ten men and injuring 29 — one of the worst underground transport accidents in the South Yorkshire coalfield.

Recorded claims

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

• Dalton Main Collieries Ltd was floated on the London Stock Exchange in December 1899 by John Brown and Company; the first Silverwood shaft began sinking in 1900, with coal worked by 1904. ^1,2
• Silverwood was connected underground to the neighbouring Roundwood Colliery in 1908 and linked to it by John Brown's Private Railway; by 1909 John Brown and Company was sole proprietor. ²
• King George V and Queen Mary visited in July 1912 but cut the visit short on learning of that day's Cadeby Colliery disaster. ¹
• Queen Elizabeth II visited on 31 July 1975 and personally cut coal underground, with the royal party staying overnight on the Royal Train in the colliery sidings. ¹
• The colliery closed in 1994, with remaining reserves worked from Maltby Main Colliery; reclamation was completed in 2006, turning the former slurry lagoon into a nature reserve. ¹

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this mine.

Sources

1. (secondary) Silverwood Colliery — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Dalton Main Collieries Ltd. — Wikipedia

Record created: 26 August 2026 · Last researched: 26 August 2026