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Its been there for a long time, well, from 350 to 300 million years to be imprecise;
The coal measures were laid say 100m years before the dinosaurs and 280 million years before the Himalayas were formed. Bituminous coal, the compressed product of decomposed vegetation is present at different levels (seams) in this area and has played a significant part in the life of this village.
The earliest written record is found in the Manor Rolls copied in the Thoresby book ‘The History of Methley’ where at the Manor Court in 1341, Hugo Wyland was accused of digging up coal, he claimed that he did not
know that he needed a licence of the Court and he was fined half a mark. Further references to early mining can be read in the Coal Extraction section of Manorial Rolls on this site. A later
description of the sale freehold of Methley Grange in 1862 advertises there being mines of excellent coal on this estate.
Despite the lack of any earlier records before the Manorial Rolls, it would seem likely to me that shallow mining would have taken place certainly as far back as roman times and possibly earlier.
A picture of the Methley Coal mine which was treated during the reconstruction of the canal/river was taken with Barry Seage. I can well remember skating on a pond at the apex of a triangular field adjacent to the railway line. Even then, information was handed down by older kids that we were on top of an old shaft which had been boarded over, The new top of this shaft ventilates to the atmosphere at that same position. A number of other smaller pits were worked in Methley prior to, and at this time. Major deep mining commenced with the sinking of Methley Junction pit in the 1850’s and then Savile Colliery was sunk in 1874 and Newmarket round about the same.
July 1893 Manpower at Methley Collieries at the time of Colliers Strike
Colliery Men and Boys
Savile 295
Henry Briggs & Co
M. Junction 336
H Briggs & Co
Foxholes Pit 1 230
WWood & Son
Foxholes Pit 2 300
W Wood
Newmarket 230
J&J Charlesworth
Colliers strike - men gave notice on instructions of Miners
Association at Barnsley. They will not return until
proposed 25% reduction had been settled.
Disturbances and riots lead up to reading of the Riot Act
to Acton Hall men at Featherstone . Two colliers were
shot and killed by the dragoons.
Disaster at Oulton
Whilst searching for details of a fatality at Savile, I came across the following report in the local paper of a serious accident at the Water Haigh Mine
in the adjacent village of Oulton in 1910
A lamentable accident involving the loss of human life occurred on Saturday at the new pit belonging to Messrs Briggs & Co. Ltd.
Four shafts are being sunk and in
one of
them the side of the shaft yielded and a large quantity of debris fell upon the shaft sinkers. Patrick McCarthy of Hunslet was pinned by the workers platform and unable to move. The poor fellow being in dreadful pain for 8 hours - death finally ending his suffering. Meantime owing to the danger attending the operations little could be done to make the shaft safe or bring out the dead and injured, altthough heroic attempts were made in both regards. Finally it was found that six lives had been lost, the names of the unfortunate fellows being :-
William Senior (age24) lodging in Oulton whose parents reside at Stubbs farm Walton.
William Lancaster (25) known as Harrison of 7, Rou Melia Place, Grove Road, Hunslet (he leaves a wife and 2 children).
Patrick Gill (32) 13, Cross Lisbon Street, Leeds.
John O’Brien lodging in Church Street, Woodlesford (no relatives traced)
Patrick McCarthy
Fred Cooper lived with his widowed mother at Friarwood,
Pontefract.
Fred Cooper is the son of Mrs Tarpey and his death has plunged the family into great grief. A newspaper reporter saw Mrs Tarpey and found her mourning her sons death. She described him as a good lad who had never given them any trouble. Formerly working for Mr. Harker, farmer he commenced work as a pit sinker 2 years earlier to earn more money. He had been working at Oulton only 6 weeks after doing similar work at Bentley Colliery.
Mrs Tarpey has derived much consolation from a visit paid to her by Mrs Arthur Currer Briggs who was accompanied by Mrs Hodges (Managers wife).
Mrs Briggs whose kindly nature is well known in the Leeds district expressed her intense sympathy with the family who have derived muchcomfort from her visit.
It was certainly dangerous work, on
the 9th of November that year S Phillips (45) and on the 17th November JP Bernice (24) and James Phelan (46) suffered the same fate in shaft sinking at the new Oulton Pit.
Somewhere in Methley
It was 1950, midwinter and freezing.
We’d just come across ice covered water in a steep hollow between some trees. The ice was thick and in the middle was a small island of branches, twigs and moss.
We were always ‘dufting’ (daring) and I edged across to the island and with increasing confidence gave a couple of jumps to see how solid it was.
On the second time the central island collapsed and with a scream I went down with arms outstretched into thick, stinking, cloying mud. The surrounding ice was holding but I was unable to gain purchase to scramble out.
I vaguely recall screaming as Mike Shillito to his eternal credit and my everlasting gratitude dashed off and returned with a large branch.
He pushed one end across and with one movement I grasped it and clung on as Mike pulled me out.......It was our introduction to an ancient bell pit. The enormity of what might have happened did not escape either of us as we raced back home. Two ten year olds, one covered in black stinking mud, both trying to avoid detection, getting stripped in the coal hole (house) with clothes and shoes in a bucket of icy water was, of course a give-away.
It took a long time to work out why I didn’t get a good hiding!
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