This is my very first report, I hope I have done the location justice and the you find it interesting.
Snowdown Colliery, situated alongside the main Dover to Canterbury railway line, was begun by Arthur Burr’s Foncage Syndicate in 1907. The first shaft at Snowdown hit water at 260 ft and flooded and 22 men were drowned. There were few sinking problems after this and Snowdown became the first commercial pit in Kent, and the first coal was brought to the surface from a depth of 1370ft, on 19th November, 1912.
Due to an act of Parliament in 1920, the Emergency Powers Bill, which temporarily increased wages for six months, in 1921 miners at Snowdown went on strike over the ensuing reduced pay and the company went into receivership.
They closed the colliery in 1922 but maintained pumping operations so it could be sold as a working mine. The colliery was mothballed for almost two years before it was purchased in 1924 by Pearson & Dorman Long who had started a new colliery at Betteshanger. They completely modernised the colliery, scrapping the old steam winding plant and installing a powerful electric one.
Snowdown was the deepest colliery in Kent reaching well over 3,000 ft (915 metres). It was also the hottest and most humid pit in Kent and was given the name 'Dante's Inferno' by the miners. Regarded by many as the worst pit to work at in Britain, most Snowdown miners worked naked because clothes became too uncomfortable. The miners could consume around 24 pints (14 lires) of water in an 8-hour shift.
Snowdown closed in 1987
The pit head and machinery has long since gone, but there are still a number of brick buildings standing which nature is doing her best to reclaim.
Despite the fact that it was an industrial site, the brickwork has great detail and form.
I found this circular brickwork fascinating, and there was a mirror image of it behind this one.
Due to the inaccessability of individual buildings, what little original metalwork remained was difficult to photograph.
I easily located each of the three capped shafts, which give interesting facts on metal plates sunk into the concrete.
The unusually good weather on the day I went definitely helped the sky on the builing shots!
Snowdown Colliery, situated alongside the main Dover to Canterbury railway line, was begun by Arthur Burr’s Foncage Syndicate in 1907. The first shaft at Snowdown hit water at 260 ft and flooded and 22 men were drowned. There were few sinking problems after this and Snowdown became the first commercial pit in Kent, and the first coal was brought to the surface from a depth of 1370ft, on 19th November, 1912.
Due to an act of Parliament in 1920, the Emergency Powers Bill, which temporarily increased wages for six months, in 1921 miners at Snowdown went on strike over the ensuing reduced pay and the company went into receivership.
They closed the colliery in 1922 but maintained pumping operations so it could be sold as a working mine. The colliery was mothballed for almost two years before it was purchased in 1924 by Pearson & Dorman Long who had started a new colliery at Betteshanger. They completely modernised the colliery, scrapping the old steam winding plant and installing a powerful electric one.
Snowdown was the deepest colliery in Kent reaching well over 3,000 ft (915 metres). It was also the hottest and most humid pit in Kent and was given the name 'Dante's Inferno' by the miners. Regarded by many as the worst pit to work at in Britain, most Snowdown miners worked naked because clothes became too uncomfortable. The miners could consume around 24 pints (14 lires) of water in an 8-hour shift.
Snowdown closed in 1987
The pit head and machinery has long since gone, but there are still a number of brick buildings standing which nature is doing her best to reclaim.
Despite the fact that it was an industrial site, the brickwork has great detail and form.
I found this circular brickwork fascinating, and there was a mirror image of it behind this one.
Due to the inaccessability of individual buildings, what little original metalwork remained was difficult to photograph.
I easily located each of the three capped shafts, which give interesting facts on metal plates sunk into the concrete.
The unusually good weather on the day I went definitely helped the sky on the builing shots!
