Warren Vale Colliery

Overview

Earl Fitzwilliam's colliery in the Collier Brook valley between Rawmarsh and Swinton, worked by the Charlesworths, where a roof fall drove firedamp onto candle-lit miners in 1851 and killed 52 men and boys, and which closed in wartime in 1943.

History

Warren Vale Colliery, also known as Piccadilly Colliery, stood beside Warren Vale Road between Rawmarsh and Swinton in the valley of the Collier Brook. The land and coal belonged to Earl Fitzwilliam, and the pit was worked by the Wakefield coal owners J. and J. Charlesworth, who also owned Kilnhurst Colliery, to which it was linked by rail. Wikipedia dates its sinking to the late 1840s with production from the end of 1850, while a 2024 local history says it was sunk in 1840. Two shafts a few yards apart reached the Five Feet coal at about 65 to 90 yards and the Nine Feet coal at 127 yards, ventilated by a furnace at the foot of the upcast. Early on Saturday 20 December 1851, when the colliery was still new, a fall of roof in the newly opened No. 3 bank drove firedamp onto men and boys working by candlelight in the Nine Feet coal. The explosion blew two corves of coal out of the shaft into the headgear (see Disasters, below). The inquest jury viewed 52 bodies, though later accounts give 51, of whom 24 were aged 16 or under; the coroner and witnesses criticised an aged, infirm steward and lax management, and a larger furnace and closer supervision followed. An explosion in November 1874 in the Barnsley seam at 127 yards killed 23 more and two horses; NMRS files it as Rawmarsh Colliery, but a 2024 account places it at Warren Vale. The colliery's last fatality was in February 1910. Then owned by the Warren Vale Coal Company, it was closed on 21 March 1943 because of the war, its 180 men moving to Manvers Main or Kilnhurst.

Geology

The Five Feet coal at about 90 yards and the Nine Feet coal, 127 yards deep, which was also known as the Barnsley seam; later plans record the Kents Main and High Hazel seams.

Workings

Two shafts a few yards apart — a 12-foot downcast to the Nine Feet coal and a 9-foot upcast with a ventilating furnace at its foot — and in its early years workings of limited extent, supported by thick pack walls and worked by candlelight.

Closure

Closed on 21 March 1943 because of the war, when the Warren Vale Coal Company employed 180 men there; they were redeployed to Manvers Main and Kilnhurst collieries.

What remains

Some small buildings still stood on the site in 2007, part of it became the works of Bessacarr Caravans, and the old railway towards Kilnhurst is a footpath.

Some small buildings on the site, recorded as standing in 2007, and the trackbed of the railway to Kilnhurst.

Related mines

• Kilnhurst Colliery — Both worked by J. and J. Charlesworth and linked by rail; Warren Vale's men moved to Kilnhurst when it closed in 1943.
• Manvers Main Colliery — Warren Vale's men were redeployed to Manvers Main when it closed in 1943.

Nearby mines

• Kilnhurst Colliery — 2.0 km SE
• New Stubbin Colliery — 2.0 km SW
• Roundwood Colliery — 2.1 km S
• Wath Main Colliery — 3.3 km N
• Cortonwood Colliery — 4.0 km W

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

People

• Benjamin Biram · agent, 1851 — Mineral agent for Earl Fitzwilliam for twenty years; told the 1851 inquest that the explosion followed a fall and that the pit's management was lax.
• Thomas Sylvester · victim, 1851 — The colliery's fire trier, killed in the 1851 explosion; his body was found where the roof fall had been threatening.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Wikipedia says sinking began in the late 1840s with production from the end of 1850; AroundTown (2024) says the colliery was sunk in 1840. (disputed) ^1,2
• The inquest jury found that 52 men and boys were killed in the explosion of 20 December 1851; Wikipedia and AroundTown give 51, 24 of them aged 16 or under. (disputed) ^1,3,2
• AroundTown places the explosion of November 1874 that killed 23 at Warren Vale, in the Barnsley seam at 127 yards; NMRS records the same event as the Rawmarsh Colliery explosion, worked by the Charlesworths. (uncertain) ^4,2

Recorded claims

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

• Warren Vale, also called Piccadilly Colliery, was owned by Earl Fitzwilliam and worked by J. and J. Charlesworth of Wakefield, with a rail link to their Kilnhurst Colliery. ^1,2
• Wikipedia says sinking began in the late 1840s with production from the end of 1850; AroundTown (2024) says the colliery was sunk in 1840. (disputed) ^1,2
• In 1851 a 12-foot downcast reached the Nine Feet coal at 127 yards and a 9-foot upcast the Five Feet coal, with a furnace at the foot of the upcast. ³
• The inquest jury found that 52 men and boys were killed in the explosion of 20 December 1851; Wikipedia and AroundTown give 51, 24 of them aged 16 or under. (disputed) ^1,3,2
• A fall of roof drove firedamp into places where miners were working with candles. ^1,3,2
• AroundTown places the explosion of November 1874 that killed 23 at Warren Vale, in the Barnsley seam at 127 yards; NMRS records the same event as the Rawmarsh Colliery explosion, worked by the Charlesworths. (uncertain) ^4,2
• The colliery, then owned by the Warren Vale Coal Company, closed on 21 March 1943 because of the war, and its 180 men went to Manvers Main or Kilnhurst. ²
• The national catalogue holds a Warren Vale abandonment plan for the Kents Main and High Hazel seams. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Warren Vale Colliery — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Warren Vale Colliery Explosion – 150 years on (Joshua Daniels, 4 November 2024) — AroundTown Magazine
3. (secondary) Warren Vale Colliery Explosion – Swinton – 1851 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (secondary) Rawmarsh Colliery Explosion – Rotherham – 1874 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans catalogue: Warren Vale (Kents Main, High Hazel) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026