Soothill Wood Colliery

Overview

A Batley and Dewsbury colliery sunk in 1873-76, employing over a thousand in 1894, served by its own branch of the Great Northern Railway, and abandoned in 1928.

History

Soothill Wood Colliery lay at Soothill, between Batley and Dewsbury in the West Riding. It was sunk between 1873 and 1876, and by 1894 it employed 1,033 people, 907 of them underground, under the Soothill Wood Coal Company with A. B. Blakeley as manager. It raised gas and household coal and later coking coal, from the Black Bed, Cannel, Middleton and Flockton seams, and ironstone by 1915.

The Great Northern Railway's Batley to Beeston line came past the colliery: its first half-mile, from Batley West to Soothill Wood Colliery, opened for coal traffic in 1887, before work on the rest of the line had begun. In February 1920 a goods train and a passenger train collided at the colliery, with injuries but no deaths.

The Middleton Main, Cannel and Flockton workings were abandoned in December 1906, and employment fell to 464 by 1910 before recovering to 706 in 1923 under the Soothill Wood Colliery Co. Ltd. Work was discontinued in September 1927 and the colliery was formally abandoned on 18 February 1928.

Geology

West Yorkshire Coal Measures. The colliery worked the Black Bed, Cannel, Middleton and Flockton seams, the Black Bed alone by 1915, and raised ironstone with its coal.

Workings

A shaft colliery beside the Great Northern Railway's Batley to Beeston branch, whose first half-mile from Batley West served it from 1887. The Middleton Main, Cannel and Flockton were abandoned on 1 December 1906.

Closure

Work was discontinued in September 1927 and the colliery was abandoned on 18 February 1928.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Soothill Wood was sunk from 1873 to 1876, discontinued in September 1927 and abandoned on 18 February 1928. ¹
• In 1894 the colliery employed 1,033, 907 below ground, with A. B. Blakeley as manager. ^2,3
• Employment was 464 in 1910 and 706 in 1923. ²
• The first half-mile of the Batley to Beeston line, between Batley West and Soothill Wood Colliery, opened for coal traffic in 1887. ⁴
• In February 1920 a goods train and a passenger train collided at the colliery, causing injuries but no deaths. ⁵
• Plans of the Middleton Main, Cannel and Flockton seams at Soothill Wood record their abandonment on 1 December 1906. ⁶
• The colliery worked the Black Bed, Cannel and Middleton seams in 1905 and raised ironstone with its coal in 1915. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Coal Mines in Yorkshire 1854 onwards (S) - Northern Mine Research Society — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Soothill Wood Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Soothill Wood Colliery Co., Ltd. — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) Tracing the Great Northern Railway - South Leeds Life — South Leeds Life
5. (secondary) Soothill — Wikipedia
6. (primary) BGS mine plans: Soothill Wood (Middleton Main, abandoned 1 Dec 1906) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 1 October 2026