Stavely coal and iron would probably be one of the oldest mining companies and goes back to the 1700s, by the late 1800s they owned several mines in Derbyshire
Barlborough No1
Barlborough No2------both at Stavely
Bonds Main at Chesterfield
Hartington No1
Hartington No2---------both at Stavely
Ireland at Stavely
Markham No1
Markham No2----------both at Stavely
Springwood at chesterfield
ASTON TERRACES & NORTH STAVELEY COLLIERY
North Staveley Colliery was opened in 1864 by the Staveley Coal and Iron Company Limited.
The company built rows of terrace houses for the miners which were known as Aston Terraces or “Top O’T’ill”. The houses had three bedrooms, a large living kitchen and a room sized pantry. Coal was kept across the yard next to earth middens - toilets with wooden seats over a pit. Each row of houses had a shop opened by individuals in their front room. In 1920 these included Mr Wright’s sweet shop and Mr Arrowsmith’s fish and chip shop in Ladies Row.
The residents cultivated vegetables and fruit in the large gardens and many kept fowl, rabbits and maybe pigs. Many of the men also kept pigeons.
Near the main railway line was a football pitch and, near the Mansfield Road, was a bowling green, tennis courts and a pavillion built of corrugated iron. The pavillion was for men only and here they played snooker, darts, cards and billiards. A recreation ground was provided for the children (The ‘Rec’) with roundabouts and swings. A Primitive Methodist Church was built by the company in about 1879 just below Chapel Row. The Church School was built in 1866 for 100 children and the headmaster lived at what became Glebe House. It became a National School in 1875. Click on the plan for a map.
The shaft of the colliery was about 211 yards deep on the Barnsley Seam. This was worked until about 1930 along with High Hazel Seam which was opened in 1912.
Boys who started work were probably first employed getting tubs of coal ready, two at a time, for the onsetter. He was in charge of the shaft bottom and responsible for seeing the men out of the pit. Their next job could have been driving draft horses for pulling empty tubs and later pony driving on the coal face. (The colliery had about 30 ponies, none of which were allowed to work for over 9 hours per day. This was later reduced to 8 hours. Every pony was examined at the end of each shift.)
Later they would become a ‘filler’, filling the tubs of coal, sometimes by hand. After two years, they were then qualified to work on the coal face.
In 1908, typhoid fever struck the mine killing a number of men between the ages of 18 and 20. No women were affected.
The pit closed in 1932
Hope this may be of some assistance. if you wish there are a few links to coal mining on my website
http://dennisford.rootschat.net/mining.html All the best
Denn
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Topic: Mines in Derbyshire - mid 1800s (Read 6852 times)