Westthorpe Colliery

Overview

Westthorpe at Killamarsh was one of the last new sinkings in north Derbyshire, begun in 1923 by J. and G. Wells, a family firm that had been in the local coal trade since the 1840s and built six hundred houses in the village for the men. It ran for sixty-one years, almost fully mechanised by the end, and closed in 1984. The ground has been given back to nature.

History

J. and G. Wells Ltd sank Westthorpe between Killamarsh and Spinkhill from 1923. The Wells family had been in the trade a long time: George Wells worked Little Hill and Mosborough Common with their coke ovens, his father Joseph bought Sales and Bibbs' pit at Moor Hole, and when George died in May 1844 his sons Joseph and George carried the pits on, sinking Moor Hole in 1845. The firm became J. and G. Wells and Co. Limited and owned several collieries in the district. In its first year the new pit was sinking into the Deep Soft seam, about 140 feet down, with 44 men below ground and 62 on the surface. A shaft was sunk 149 yards deep in 1924, near the Yorkshire boundary. In 1927 the company built six hundred houses at Killamarsh for its workers, though a recession in colliery and council house building the following year makes it uncertain whether all six hundred went up. Employment was 311 in 1933 and only 166 in 1940, then jumped to 1,018 at nationalisation on 1 January 1947, when the pit turned out 315,000 tons of coking, gas, household, manufacturing and steam coal. By 1945 E. Thompson was manager and A. H. Jackson under-manager, with 732 men below ground and 215 on the surface. A surface drift at one in three was added in 1955. The National Coal Board's 1967 account of north Derbyshire describes the pit as virtually a hundred per cent mechanised, with 800 men producing over 500,000 tons a year from the Thorncliffe and Flockton seams. It closed in 1984 and many of the men transferred to other local collieries. Reclamation began in 1997.

Geology

Westthorpe worked the north Derbyshire coalfield close to the Yorkshire boundary. Sinking began into the Deep Soft seam about 140 feet down, and the pit later took the Thorncliffe and the Flockton, the latter a Yorkshire seam reached across the county line.

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

Workings

One shaft, sunk 149 yards deep in 1924, with a surface drift at a gradient of one in three added in 1955. By the 1960s the working was virtually fully mechanised. The colliery had a steam winding engine, whose engine house stood beyond the boiler house; the engine itself survives at Pleasley Colliery.

Closure

The colliery closed in 1984 and many of its men transferred to other local pits. Reclamation of the site began in 1997.

What remains

The colliery is gone. The site has been reclaimed and is now Westthorpe Hills, a countryside site managed for people and wildlife. A photograph from July 2008 shows the boiler house and steam winding engine house still standing with wisps of steam about them; all of it has since been demolished.

Nothing on the site. The steam winding engine was taken to Pleasley Colliery, where it survives.

Redevelopment

Westthorpe Hills countryside site, reclaimed from 1997.

Related mines

• Pleasley Colliery — Westthorpe's steam winding engine survives at Pleasley, where it was taken after the Killamarsh site was cleared.

Nearby mines

• Eckington Mine — 1.6 km W
• Brookhouse Colliery — 4.6 km N, South Yorkshire
• Hartington Colliery — 4.7 km SW
• Kiveton Park Colliery — 4.8 km NE, South Yorkshire
• North Staveley Colliery — 5.0 km N, South Yorkshire

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.

• oldminer.co.uk gives the colliery as 1923 to 1984, sinking into the Deep Soft seam in its first year with 44 men below and 62 on the surface. The National Coal Board's 1967 account, quoted by the Durham Mining Museum, gives the shaft as sunk 149 yards deep in 1924 with a one in three surface drift added in 1955. ^1,2
• The Derbyshire Times of 5 February 1927 reported that J. and G. Wells built six hundred houses at Killamarsh for its workers. Whether all six hundred were built is uncertain: a recession in colliery and council housebuilding followed the next year. (uncertain) ²
• The Durham Mining Museum carries this colliery under two entries, Westthorpe and Westhorpe, with grid references one metre apart and the same Killamarsh location. They are the same pit. ^3,1

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Westhorpe Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Eckington and Mosborough collieries — oldminer.co.uk
3. (secondary) Westthorpe Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (observational) Westthorpe Colliery, Killamarsh (Geograph 879824) — Geograph Britain and Ireland, Chris Allen

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