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1. The History
Hatfield Main Colliery is located one mile north-west of the village of the same name, on the South Yorkshire Coalfield, where it mined the High Hazel coal seam. It is noteworthy as being one of the UK's last remaining deep seam mines when it finally closed in 2015, just shy of a century of coal production.
Initially operated by Hatfield Main Colliery Company, the first main shaft was driven in 1911, constructed using the Francois Cementation Process and followed by a second shaft in 1921. The mine was then acquired by the Carlton Main Colliery Company in January 1927, before 20 years later becoming part of the National Coal Board in 1947. In 1967, I was merged with Thorne colliery only to separate again in February 1978. In a case of de ja vu, the pits were merged again in February 1986.
It had a decent safety record. The worst accident occurred in 1939 when a cage lifting miners in the upcast shaft overshot crashing into the headgear, killing one and injuring fifty more.
Reproduced from the 1950 Ordnance Survey map
Now under the ownership of British Coal, the winter of 1993 saw many pit closures, and the combined entity was closed in December 1993, when under ownership of British Coal. However, the pit’s management reopened the pit in January 1994, having formed the Hatfield Coal Company Ltd. Coal mining commenced later that year in July and the first year of operation saw the company made a healthy profit of £2.4 million. However, this reprieve was short-lived as on 9th August 2001 the pit closed. The workforce of 223 were all laid off and the site was mothballed using funding from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Archive picture of Hatfield Main (date, photographer unknown):
In October 2001, Coalpower Ltd took control of the pit under ownership of the Richard Budge, the former owner of RJB Mining. In 2003 they published plans for a 450 MW power station but went into administration, in part due to geological problems at the coal face affecting production. The pit then closed for a third time in early 2004.
Not to be beaten, Richard Budge restarted the colliery in 2006, with plans for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) coal burning power-station, via the company Powerfuel. Russian company Kuzbassrazrezugol then entered the fray, acquiring a 51% controlling stake in Powerfuel. Coal production once again commenced at the pit in 2007 with production made economically viable again due to the price of coal doubling coal between 2004 and 2008. Meanwhile, the CCS project due to receive £180 million of EU funding in 2009, but with the project failing to obtain enough investment to proceed, Powerfuel entered administration in 2010.
In 2011 2Co Energy Ltd acquired Powerfuel and renaming the CCS project the Don Valley Power Project, while the colliery was managed, under contract, by Hargreaves Services plc. Despite this, in 2013, 70 of the 700-strong workforce were made redundant due to production issues forcing changes in shift patterns.
In February 2013, a landslide on one of the colliery’s a spoil tips occurred, blocking passenger services between Doncaster and Goole/Scunthorpe. Rail freight was also badly affected around 20% of all UK freight also used this section of line. The large landslide resulted in the need to replace 500 metres of quadruple-track taking over five months to rectify. The cause of the slip was believed to have been caused by rainfall soaking in the spoil heap.
In December 2013, another change in management ensued as an employee-controlled management team under the umbrella of Hatfield Colliery Partnership Limited (HCPL) purchased the mine from ING Bank. In late 2014, the NUM provided the pit with £4 million of bridging finance as production moved to a new pit face. In June 2015, the colliery finally ceased production, with the loss of 430 jobs. Spokesman for the colliery, Micheal O'Sullivan, summed up the reasons for closure succinctly: "We can't find a market for the coal, so there is no point in producing it." Increases in the UK carbon tax didn’t help matters here. The last piece of coal mined at the pit was given to the then Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones. Its closure left Kellingley in North Yorkshire and Thoresby in Nottinghamshire as the remaining two UK deep-seam coal mines.
Doncaster Council was planning on having the towers demolished on the basis that the site posed a "real danger". However, numbers 1 (downcast) and 2 (upcast) headstocks were Grade 2 listed. Dating back to 1922, they were listed on 10th November 2015, much to the council’s chagrin. Formed in April 2017, Hatfield Main Heritage Trust were wanting to develop the site into a heritage centre, including a local mining heritage museum. The group received crowdfunded through Just Giving while Paul Heaton, lead singer from Beautiful South and The Housemartins, donated royalties from his song “Coal Train to Hatfield Main”. The land is currently classed as Crown Land.
A DMBC conducted a survey in March 2018 concluded the Pitgears were safe to remain for at least the next 10 years, although with their Grade 2 listing, they cannot be demolished. Moving forward Hargreaves Landsdown and Stainforth Town Council need to collaborate to make the site viable for the future.
2. The Explore.
As a rule, I don’t normally report on places where I have externals only. This place is kind of different though. There’s security on site 24/7, with dogs, so we didn’t really want to test that one out. Anyhow, as we walked over to the headstocks and were greeted by the site’s security main-man. We had a friendly chat and he said we had to leave the site so we decided it was a case of circumnavigating the site to take pictures.
The council(?) have been paying for security at the site for seven years now. The place’s future is a bit in limbo and but for now the headstock remain, gently rusting away but protected for now with their Grade II listing. There’s been a few changes. The coal conveyor belt system has now gone, some time post March 2020. Also, a massive warehouse has just been finished to the north side of the site and looks like it is about to open for operation.
3. The Photographs
Approach the site:
From the front:
Headstock no.1 (downcast):
Looking down from the hill behind:
Just so photogenic:
Would have been nice to have a shufty in here:
No.2 Head shaft (up-cast):
Think this is the blower house:
Winder house:
Side view from the spoil tip area:
Can’t ever tire of those headstocks:
Tracks remaining in situ:
That's all folks!
Hatfield Main Colliery is located one mile north-west of the village of the same name, on the South Yorkshire Coalfield, where it mined the High Hazel coal seam. It is noteworthy as being one of the UK's last remaining deep seam mines when it finally closed in 2015, just shy of a century of coal production.
Initially operated by Hatfield Main Colliery Company, the first main shaft was driven in 1911, constructed using the Francois Cementation Process and followed by a second shaft in 1921. The mine was then acquired by the Carlton Main Colliery Company in January 1927, before 20 years later becoming part of the National Coal Board in 1947. In 1967, I was merged with Thorne colliery only to separate again in February 1978. In a case of de ja vu, the pits were merged again in February 1986.
It had a decent safety record. The worst accident occurred in 1939 when a cage lifting miners in the upcast shaft overshot crashing into the headgear, killing one and injuring fifty more.
Reproduced from the 1950 Ordnance Survey map
Now under the ownership of British Coal, the winter of 1993 saw many pit closures, and the combined entity was closed in December 1993, when under ownership of British Coal. However, the pit’s management reopened the pit in January 1994, having formed the Hatfield Coal Company Ltd. Coal mining commenced later that year in July and the first year of operation saw the company made a healthy profit of £2.4 million. However, this reprieve was short-lived as on 9th August 2001 the pit closed. The workforce of 223 were all laid off and the site was mothballed using funding from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Archive picture of Hatfield Main (date, photographer unknown):
In October 2001, Coalpower Ltd took control of the pit under ownership of the Richard Budge, the former owner of RJB Mining. In 2003 they published plans for a 450 MW power station but went into administration, in part due to geological problems at the coal face affecting production. The pit then closed for a third time in early 2004.
Not to be beaten, Richard Budge restarted the colliery in 2006, with plans for a carbon capture and storage (CCS) coal burning power-station, via the company Powerfuel. Russian company Kuzbassrazrezugol then entered the fray, acquiring a 51% controlling stake in Powerfuel. Coal production once again commenced at the pit in 2007 with production made economically viable again due to the price of coal doubling coal between 2004 and 2008. Meanwhile, the CCS project due to receive £180 million of EU funding in 2009, but with the project failing to obtain enough investment to proceed, Powerfuel entered administration in 2010.
In 2011 2Co Energy Ltd acquired Powerfuel and renaming the CCS project the Don Valley Power Project, while the colliery was managed, under contract, by Hargreaves Services plc. Despite this, in 2013, 70 of the 700-strong workforce were made redundant due to production issues forcing changes in shift patterns.
In February 2013, a landslide on one of the colliery’s a spoil tips occurred, blocking passenger services between Doncaster and Goole/Scunthorpe. Rail freight was also badly affected around 20% of all UK freight also used this section of line. The large landslide resulted in the need to replace 500 metres of quadruple-track taking over five months to rectify. The cause of the slip was believed to have been caused by rainfall soaking in the spoil heap.
In December 2013, another change in management ensued as an employee-controlled management team under the umbrella of Hatfield Colliery Partnership Limited (HCPL) purchased the mine from ING Bank. In late 2014, the NUM provided the pit with £4 million of bridging finance as production moved to a new pit face. In June 2015, the colliery finally ceased production, with the loss of 430 jobs. Spokesman for the colliery, Micheal O'Sullivan, summed up the reasons for closure succinctly: "We can't find a market for the coal, so there is no point in producing it." Increases in the UK carbon tax didn’t help matters here. The last piece of coal mined at the pit was given to the then Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones. Its closure left Kellingley in North Yorkshire and Thoresby in Nottinghamshire as the remaining two UK deep-seam coal mines.
Doncaster Council was planning on having the towers demolished on the basis that the site posed a "real danger". However, numbers 1 (downcast) and 2 (upcast) headstocks were Grade 2 listed. Dating back to 1922, they were listed on 10th November 2015, much to the council’s chagrin. Formed in April 2017, Hatfield Main Heritage Trust were wanting to develop the site into a heritage centre, including a local mining heritage museum. The group received crowdfunded through Just Giving while Paul Heaton, lead singer from Beautiful South and The Housemartins, donated royalties from his song “Coal Train to Hatfield Main”. The land is currently classed as Crown Land.
A DMBC conducted a survey in March 2018 concluded the Pitgears were safe to remain for at least the next 10 years, although with their Grade 2 listing, they cannot be demolished. Moving forward Hargreaves Landsdown and Stainforth Town Council need to collaborate to make the site viable for the future.
2. The Explore.
As a rule, I don’t normally report on places where I have externals only. This place is kind of different though. There’s security on site 24/7, with dogs, so we didn’t really want to test that one out. Anyhow, as we walked over to the headstocks and were greeted by the site’s security main-man. We had a friendly chat and he said we had to leave the site so we decided it was a case of circumnavigating the site to take pictures.
The council(?) have been paying for security at the site for seven years now. The place’s future is a bit in limbo and but for now the headstock remain, gently rusting away but protected for now with their Grade II listing. There’s been a few changes. The coal conveyor belt system has now gone, some time post March 2020. Also, a massive warehouse has just been finished to the north side of the site and looks like it is about to open for operation.
3. The Photographs
Approach the site:
From the front:
Headstock no.1 (downcast):
Looking down from the hill behind:
Just so photogenic:
Would have been nice to have a shufty in here:
No.2 Head shaft (up-cast):
Think this is the blower house:
Winder house:
Side view from the spoil tip area:
Can’t ever tire of those headstocks:
Tracks remaining in situ:
That's all folks!
