South Kirkby Colliery

Overview

A Pontefract-area colliery sunk around 1880 purely to reach the finest steam coal in Yorkshire, whose workforce funded a football club still playing at its own Miners Welfare Ground well over a century later; its 1935 explosion killed a rescue-brigade officer among the ten dead.

History

South Kirkby Colliery was sunk around 1880-81 with the sole aim of reaching the Barnsley Bed seam, then the best steam coal in Yorkshire; several other workable seams struck on the way down were deliberately left unworked at first. Three shafts were sunk at the main site, the deepest reaching 812 yards, with further shafts at nearby Hemsworth used for ventilation and man-riding. Coal was later also drawn from the Meltonfield, Beamshaw and Dunsil seams alongside the Barnsley. Production between the wars averaged around two million tons annually, and employment stood at around 2,640 men by the mid-1950s. In early 1967, the colliery was linked underground to nearby Hemsworth Colliery, whose coal it then wound, and the two collieries were formally merged that July. South Kirkby's history includes a major explosion on 23 or 28 August 1935 (sources disagree on the exact date) that killed 10 men, including a rescue-brigade officer caught in a second explosion during the rescue effort itself (see Disasters, below). The colliery's workforce also long supported South Kirkby Colliery F.C., a works football club funded by subscriptions from miners' own wages from at least 1894. The colliery's workforce took part in the 1984-85 miners' strike, but South Kirkby closed in 1988 along with many other pits in the immediate area, and the site was later cleared for redevelopment.

Geology

Coal of the South Yorkshire field: the Barnsley Bed seam, then the best steam coal in Yorkshire, with several other workable seams struck on the way down and deliberately left unworked at first.

Workings

Three shafts, the deepest at 812 yards, worked the Barnsley seam alongside the Meltonfield, Beamshaw and Dunsil seams; linked underground to Hemsworth Colliery from 1967, whose coal it then wound to the surface.

Closure

Closed in 1988 along with many other collieries in the immediate area; the site was later cleared for redevelopment.

What remains

The former colliery site was cleared for redevelopment following closure.

Related mines

• Ferrymoor Colliery — Ferrymoor was linked underground with South Kirkby in 1969 and the two were merged into Ferrymoor-Riddings-South Kirkby Colliery, which closed in 1988.
• Kinsley Drift — Neighbouring pits; Hemsworth's coal was wound at South Kirkby from 1967.

Disasters & major incidents

• South Kirkby Colliery explosion, 1935
  28 August 1935 · Explosion · 10 fatalities
  A firedamp explosion in the Barnsley Seam at South Kirkby Colliery killed 10 men in August 1935; a second explosion during the rescue effort itself burned five more, including a rescue-brigade officer who later died of his injuries.

Recorded claims

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

• South Kirkby Colliery was sunk around 1880-81 with the sole aim of tapping the Barnsley Bed seam, the best steam coal in Yorkshire, ignoring other workable seams struck on the way down. ^1,2
• Three shafts were sunk, the deepest at 812 yards, with further shafts at Hemsworth used for ventilation and man-riding. ^1,2
• The colliery was linked underground to Hemsworth Colliery in early 1967, winding its coal, and the two collieries were formally merged that July. ¹
• South Kirkby Colliery closed in 1988 along with many other collieries in the immediate area. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) South Kirkby - Wikishire — Wikishire
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - South Kirkby Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 27 August 2026