This section explores the history of the colliery itself, its ownership, its development and takes a brief look at various associated personnel.

Pleasley colliery  - circa 1885, with the Midland railway signal box and station in the background  (Stanton and Stavely copyright)

The principle landowner at Pleasley in the later 19th century was W. E. Nightingale who owned 1159 acre (469.1 ha) out of the total of 1224 acre (495.4 ha) which comprised the manor. He agreed to lease the Top Hard coal lying beneath his land and also a large field known as Round Hill for the construction of the surface buildings. This field had been previously farmed by William Sadler along with other land totalling 197.5 acre (79.9 ha). It is not known whether he received any compensation for the loss of use of the land.  In addition a narrow strip of land was leased along the eastern edge of the fields between Round Hill and Newboundmill Lane to the south for the construction of an access road together with a few other small pieces of land for colliery houses and ancillary buildings.  Another narrow strip to the north and part of the adjacent field to the west were leased to the Midland Railway for their line from Teversal and the colliery sidings.

1847 tithe map of part of Pleasley township showing the field where the colliery was later built, the route of the Midland railway extension from Teversal and the line of the Back Lane access.

Construction:

The actual commencement date is unclear, but the lease was apparently signed in 1872 and it is likely that preparations would have been in hand to commence work immediately. Although the ownership details given by more recent sources are somewhat confused, contemporary records show that the colliery was owned by the Stanton Iron Company, later incorporated as the Stanton Ironworks Company Ltd.

The total cost, including housing was no more than £100,000, (about £4.5 million in today’s prices), but the sinking took six years to complete due to technical difficulties and the economic recession which began in 1873.

Water supply:

Copious quantities of water were encountered during the sinking and this would normally have been tapped in order to provide a supply for the pit. Unfortunately it was found to have a very adverse effect on the boilers and an alternative supply had to be found. In 1892 the water supply for the pit was being provided by a steam driven pump located in an engine-house near the Horse-Fair spring.  It’s not clear whether the water was extracted from the spring itself or from the river.  By 1900, the engine-house had been demolished and replaced by a building situated closer to the river. A small weir across the river created a reservoir with a channel to the pump-house protected from larger debris by a perforated steel plate. A stilling tank was located near the pump-house to remove suspended sediment. It is believed that the pumps were electrically powered with a steam pump available as standby. By the 1960s only the electrically driven pumps were in use.

Electrification:

Pleasley Colliery was electrified at an early stage. In 1881 experimental use of incandescent lamps underground was underway and this was later followed by carbon-arc lighting on the surface. In 1890 a 84kW 500V DC dynamo driven by a horizontal steam engine was installed which powered surface and underground lighting together with a 60 hp haulage engine near the Top Hard seam pit bottom.

Transport:

Prior to the arrival of the railway, all transport would have been by road. In 1741 the main alternative to the Great North road running via Nottingham to Rotherham and Barnsley passed through Pleasley. The 19th century Pleasley to Rotherham turnpike  branched off the Mansfield to Chesterfield road a few hundred yards to the north-east of the colliery which suggests that the main roads were of a good standard. 

From Chesterfield Road there was a lane to an old windmill which was subsequently used for the main access to the colliery.  The Back Lane access from Newboundmill Lane was created at the start of the construction

By 1875 the colliery had been reached by the Midland Railway Company’s excavations for the Tibshelf to Pleasley extension from  the Erewash Valley main line at Westhouses, but it was April 1877 before the line officially opened for mineral traffic. The line was further extended in 1887 to link up with the Midland Railway line at Mansfield Woodhouse via Pleasley Vale.

In March 1898 the Great Northern Railway’s Lean Valley Extension opened for mineral traffic linking the colliery to Nottingham via Skegby, Newstead and Hucknall.

Housing:

It’s not clear where the workers were living during the sinking. The 1875 1:2500 map shows a row of buildings on the LH side of what is now Terrace Lane to the south-west of the pit.  This was the location of a small block of stone-built terraced houses on what was known as the Old Terrace.  Contemporary accounts from 1879 indicate that by then the rest of the Old Terrace had been constructed, together with houses for the main officials near to the pit yard.

By 1891 a number of colliery houses at Pleasley Hill and New Houghton had been built and the population had increased to 3293.

Bibliography:

• 1843 Tithe Map and Allocations,  Derbyshire Records Office, Matlock
• Mansfield and North Notts. Advertiser, 1877, 1879
• Stanton Ironworks Co. archives Derbyshire Records Office
• Stanton and Stavely, A Business History, S.D. Chapman
• An illustrated history of Mansfield’s railways. Anderson & Culpitt
• The Andrews Pages: Kelley Directory, 1891

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05 May, 2009