Wentworth Silkstone Colliery

Overview

Wentworth Silkstone at Hood Green near Barnsley was a drift mine on ground already worked once and given up. Shafts sunk to the Silkstone seam in 1856 stopped in 1887; a new company drove two drifts into the same hill in 1911, and as each seam ran out it drove more, seven of them by nationalisation. Half a million pounds went in in 1955 to reach the Whinmoor, which carried it to the end in 1978.

History

Coal had been taken here through the Coopers Wentworth pit, whose shafts were sunk in 1856 to reach the Silkstone seam. That working ceased in 1887. In 1911 a new company, Wentworth Silkstone Collieries Ltd, drove two drift entrances into Badger Wood close to Hood Green, and the mine opened in June of that year. It grew steadily. Three hundred men below ground and seventy on the surface by 1918; 438 by 1923; five hundred below and eighty above by 1932, a figure the Mines Inspectors' returns put at 601 in 1933 and again in 1940. As the Silkstone ran out, separate new drifts were driven into the seams nearby, one at Flockton and one at Thorncliffe, all tied back to the same return drift. By nationalisation the seven drift entrances had been reduced to three, and in 1947 the colliery employed 495 people and turned out 149,000 tons of gas, household and steam coal. With the reserves running down again in 1955 the National Coal Board put £500,000 into the mine, extending two drifts at a gradient of one in five into the Whinmoor seam and adding a new conveyor system and a man-riding paddy. Employment went up to 806 by 1954 and the Board's 1967 account of the Barnsley area describes 550 men producing 422,000 tons a year from the Whinmoor, wholly cut and loaded by machine. In 1961 the nearby Silkstone Common mine came under Wentworth Silkstone's management, its coal drawn to the surface here. The colliery closed in the summer of 1978, with 250 men transferring to Houghton Main.

Geology

Wentworth Silkstone took its name from the seam the 1856 shafts were sunk to reach. As each seam was worked out the company drove into the next: the Flockton and the Thorncliffe, then the Low Fenton and Top Fenton named in the 1954 return, and finally the Whinmoor, reached by extending two drifts at one in five in 1955 and providing all the output thereafter.

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

Workings

Two drift entrances driven in 1911, growing to seven as new seams were opened and reduced to three by nationalisation. The drifts extended in 1955 fell at one in five to the Whinmoor and were fitted with a new conveyor system and a man-riding paddy. From 1961 the coal from Silkstone Common was drawn to the surface here as well.

Closure

The colliery closed in the summer of 1978 and 250 men transferred to Houghton Main.

What remains

There is not a great deal left above ground. A June 2024 visit found one drift blocked from the start and the second, larger one open a little way in before being sealed. The course of the branch line that served the colliery is still traceable.

Two drift mouths, both sealed, and scattered stonework including a block with drill holes in it.

Nearby mines

• Huskar Pit — 5.4 km NW
• Oaks Colliery — 5.4 km NE
• Barnsley Main Colliery — 6.0 km NE
• East Gawber Colliery — 6.2 km NE
• North Gawber Colliery — 6.6 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.

• Shafts were sunk on this site in 1856 to reach the Silkstone seam, working as the Coopers Wentworth pit until production ceased in 1887. Wentworth Silkstone Collieries Ltd drove two drift entrances into the same ground in 1911 and the mine opened that June. ^1,2
• With reserves becoming exhausted in 1955 the National Coal Board invested £500,000 in the mine, extending two drifts at a gradient of one in five into the Whinmoor seam and adding a new conveyor system and a man-riding paddy. The Board's 1967 account has 550 men producing 422,000 tons a year from the Whinmoor, wholly cut and loaded by machine. ^1,2
• A visit in June 2024 found one drift blocked from the start and the second, larger drift open a little way in before being sealed, with not a great deal else left above ground. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Wentworth Silkstone Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (observational) Wentworth Silkstone Mine, near Barnsley, June 2024 — Derelict Places
3. (observational) Former branch line to Wentworth Silkstone colliery — Wikimedia Commons, Christine Johnstone

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