 | |
| Type | Plc |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mining |
| Founded | 1899 |
| Defunct | 1947 (Nationalised) |
| Fate | Nationalised |
| Successor | National Coal Board |
| Headquarters | Bolsover, Derbyshire, England |
| Products | Coal |
The Bolsover Colliery Company was a major mining concern established to extract coal from land owned by the Duke of Portland. At its peak the business was a constituent of the FT 30 index of leading companies on the London Stock Exchange.
The company was founded in 1889 by Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge, a Northumberland born mine owner, who secured a lease from the Duke of Portland for land at Bolsover in Derbyshire and started shaft sinking to reach the coal in 1891. The general manager of the company at this time was John Plowright Houfton, who was knighted for his work for the local community in 1929. [1]
Bainbridge secured the rights to mine coal at Creswell in 1894 and shaft sinking for Creswell Colliery began under the direction of J. P. Houfton in September that year. Coal was reached at 450 yards and production began in 1897. The colliery had two shafts and access to between three and four square miles of coal reserves. By 1901 the colliery was producing 2700 to 3000 tons of coal daily and in the July, 3001 tons was delivered to the surface in one day, a world record for coal production at the time. A model village was built to accommodate some of the workforce. [2]
In 1899 Bainbridge secured a further lease from the Duke of Portland for land at Crown Farm near Mansfield in Nottinghamshire: coal was reached in 1905. [1]
Subsequent leases were secured from Earl Manvers and Lord Savile allowing collieries to be established at Rufford, Clipstone and Thoresby in Nottinghamshire where coal was reached 1913, 1922 and 1928 respectively. [1]
In 1933 the company's Bolsover, Clipstone, Creswell, Mansfield, Rufford and Thorsby Collieries employed 9,369 men extracting 4.5 million tons of coal from the Top Hard, Waterloo and High Hazel seams. [3]
The company's collieries were acquired by the National Coal Board on nationalisation in 1947. Bolsover Colliery closed in 1993 [4] and Creswell Colliery closed in 1991. [5]
Pleasleylisten (help·info) is a village and civil parish with parts in both Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. It lies between Chesterfield and Mansfield, 5 miles (8 km) south east of Bolsover, Derbyshire, England and 2.5 miles (4 km) north west of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. The River Meden, which forms the county boundary in this area, runs through the village.
Shirebrook is a town in the Bolsover district in Derbyshire, England. Close to the boundaries with the districts of Mansfield and Bassetlaw of Nottinghamshire, it had a population of 13,300 in 2001, reducing to 9,760 at the 2011 Census. It is on the B6407, and close to the A632 road, between Mansfield and Bolsover.
The Dukeries is an area of the county of Nottinghamshire so called because it contained four ducal seats. It is south of Worksop, which has been called its "gateway". The area was included within the ancient Sherwood Forest. The ducal seats were:
Clowne is a village and civil parish in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, England. The population at the 2001 Census was 7,447 increasing to 7,590 at the 2011 Census. It forms part of the Bolsover constituency. Clowne lies 9 miles (14 km) north east of Chesterfield and 7 miles (11 km) south west of Worksop. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book as Clune. The name is derived from the Celtic Clun for a river.
Clipstone in north Nottinghamshire is a small ex-coal mining village built on the site of an old army base and close to the site of a medieval royal palace. The population of the civil parish was 3,469 at the 2001 census, increasing to 4,665 at the 2011 census.
Creswell Model Village is an arts and crafts style model village in the village of Creswell, Derbyshire, England. The pit village was built in 1895 by the Bolsover Colliery Company to designs by architect Percy B. Houfton for the workers of Creswell Colliery on land leased from the Welbeck Estate. Influenced by garden village principles, it provided the workers with modern facilities; it had a tramway to deliver coal to the houses. Designed around a large oval village green with an access road through the centre, the houses are of varying styles. The Model as it is known, has been refurbished.
Creswell is a former mining village located in the Bolsover district of Derbyshire, England. At the 2011 Census population details were included in the civil parish of Elmton-with-Creswell. Today it is best known for Creswell Crags and its model village. In September 1950 Creswell Colliery was the scene of one of the worst post-nationalisation mining disasters. Elmton Common is an area of allotments for the township of Creswell.
Pinxton is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire on the eastern boundary of Nottinghamshire, England, just south of the Pinxton Interchange at Junction 28 of the M1 motorway where the A38 road meets the M1. Pinxton is part of the Bolsover District and at the 2011 Census had a population of 5,699. "Pinxton CCTV level crossing", located on the up and down Kirkby lines, is a major tourist attraction for train enthusiasts who come from all over the country to take photographs of some of the unique locomotives that pass over the crossing.
Shireoaks Colliery was a coal mine situated on the edge of the village of Shireoaks, near Worksop in North Nottinghamshire, close by the Yorkshire border.
Elmton with Creswell is a civil parish in the Bolsover district in Derbyshire, England. It covers the villages of Elmton, Creswell and Creswell Model Village. According to Census data in 2001, Elmton with Creswell parish had a population of 4,755, and in 2011 had a population of 5,550. The town lies on the border with Nottinghamshire.
Clipstone Colliery was a coal mine in the village of Clipstone, Nottinghamshire, part of the area known as The Dukeries. The colliery opened in 1922 and operated until 2003. It was built by the Bolsover Colliery Company, transferred to the National Coal Board in 1947, then operated by RJB Mining from 1994. The headstocks and powerhouse are grade II listed buildings so have been preserved.
Pleasley Colliery is a former English coal mine. It is located to the north-west of Pleasley village, which sits above the north bank of the River Meden on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border. It lies 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Mansfield and 9 miles (14.5 km) south of Chesterfield. From the south it commands a prominent position on the skyline, although less so now than when the winders were in operation and both chimney stacks were in place. The colliery is situated at about 500 ft (152m) above sea level and is aligned on a NE–SW axis following the trend of the river valley at this point.
Hodthorpe is an urban village in the parish of Hodthorpe and Belph, Bolsover, Derbyshire, lying close to the Nottinghamshire border and on the edge of Sherwood Forest. The village has two principal streets, Queens Road and Kings Street. It has one shop, a village primary school, and a Working Men's club. There are two parks.
Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge was an English mining consulting engineer, philanthropist and Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1895 to 1900.
Vicar Water is a small river in Nottinghamshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Maun, and runs through an area which was once the royal hunting ground of Clipstone Park. It gained its present name in the early nineteenth century, and was dammed in 1870, in order to make a trout fishery, which was used to stock the lakes at nearby Welbeck Abbey. Since the cessation of coal mining, much of it has been incorporated into a country park, and is a designated Local Nature Reserve.
The Mansfield Railway was an eleven-mile railway line in Nottinghamshire, England. It was built to serve collieries opening in the coalfield around Mansfield, and ran between junctions at Clipstone and Kirkby-in-Ashfield on the Great Central Railway. It opened in 1916 and was worked by the GCR. Passenger stations were opened on the line, although, at the date of opening, road bus competition was already dominant.
Kings Clipstone is a settlement and civil parish, in the Newark and Sherwood district, in the county of Nottinghamshire, England. The parish lies in the west of the county, and north west within the district. It is 122 miles north of London, 15 miles north of the city of Nottingham, and 5 miles north east of the market town of Mansfield. In 2011 the parish had a population of 318. The parish touches Clipstone village, Edwinstowe, Rufford and Warsop. The parish was formerly part of the wider Clipstone parish, on 1 April 2011 it became a separate parish. The area is within Sherwood Forest, well known for the Robin Hood legend.
Warsop Vale is a small village in the Mansfield district of western Nottinghamshire, England. It is 120 miles (190 km) north west of London, 17+1⁄2 miles (28.2 km) north of the county town and city of Nottingham, and 4+1⁄4 miles (6.8 km) north of the town of Mansfield. It is in the civil parish of Warsop. Warsop Vale's heritage is primarily as a former mining village. It lies in the very picturesque area known as the Dukeries and is easily accessible to Clumber Park, Thoresby Park and hall, Rufford Park and the Earl of Portland estate of Welbeck, together all part of Sherwood Forest.
Hodthorpe and Belph is a civil parish within the Bolsover district, of the county of Derbyshire, England. The parish includes the village of Hodthorpe and the hamlet of Belph. In 2011 the parish had a population of 663. It is 132 miles north west of London, 27 miles north east of the county city of Derby, and 5 miles north east of the market town of Bolsover. The parish touches Welbeck, Whitwell, Elmton with Creswell and Holbeck, and is the easternmost in Derbyshire. There is one listed building in Hodthorpe and Belph.
Rufford Colliery was a coal mine located near Rainworth, a village in Nottinghamshire, England. Its first shafts were sunk in 1911. In February 1913, fourteen workers at the mine died when a water barrel "containing some tons of water was precipitated down the shaft on to some men who were working at the bottom" of one of shafts. The mine was operated by Bolsover Colliery Company from 1915 to 1946, the National Coal Board from 1947 to 1987, and the British Coal Corporation from 1987 to 1993. The mine ceased operation in 1993.
