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This is a list of coal mines in the United Kingdom, sorted between those operating in the 21st century and those closed earlier.
The last operating deep coal mine in the United Kingdom, Kellingley colliery in North Yorkshire, closed in December 2015. [1] Most continuing coal mines are collieries owned by freeminers, or are open pit mines of which there were 26 in 2014. [2]
These coal mines closed in the 21st century or still operate.
 |
| Mine | Owner | Region | Production (tonnes) [a] | Manpower [a] | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradley Surface Mine | Banks Group | County Durham | ? | <30 (2018) | Closed August 2020 [3] |
| Clipstone Colliery | RJB Mining | Nottinghamshire | ? | 1,300 (?) | Closed 2003 [4] |
| Daw Mill | UK Coal | West Midlands | 3.25 million (2008) | 683 (2008) [5] | Closed 7 March 2013 [6] |
| Hatfield Colliery | Hatfield Colliery Ltd | Yorkshire | 704,740 (2011) | 400 (2011) | Closed July 2015 [7] |
| Hill Top Colliery | Grimebridge Colliery Company Ltd | Lancashire | ? | 3 (2011) | Closed, 2014 [8] |
| Kellingley Colliery | UK Coal Operations Ltd | Yorkshire | 2,276,434 (2011) | 695 (2011) | Closed 18 December 2015 |
| Maltby Main Colliery | UK Coal | Yorkshire | ? | <400 | Closed April 2013 |
| Thoresby Colliery | UK Coal Operations Ltd | Nottinghamshire | 1,283,346 (2011) | 613 (2011) | Closed July 2015 |
| Hartington | ? | Derbyshire | 87,000 | ? | Closed September, 2020 [9] |
| Danygraig 4 drift mine | Three D's Mining Limited | Wales | ? | ? | Closed March 2021 |
| Ffos-y-fran Land Reclamation Scheme | Merthyr Tydfil | South Wales | 1,000,000 (at peak) | ? | Closed November 2023 [10] |
| Aberpergwm drift mine | Energybuild Ltd | Wales | ? | 160 (2021) | Operating |
| Ayle Colliery (Quarry Drift) | Ayle Colliery Company Ltd | Cumbria | 1,000 | ? | Operating in Feb 2020 |
| Hopewell Colliery | Rich Daniels [11] (Freeminer) | Forest of Dean | ? | ~1 (2018) | Operating [12] |
| Wallsend Colliery & Morse's Level | Mike Howells [13] (Freeminer) | Forest of Dean | ? | ? | Operating |
| Monument Colliery | Ray Ashly, Richard Daniels & Neil Young [14] (Freeminers) | Forest of Dean | 250 (2011) | 3 (2011) | Only freemine in Forest of Dean operating as of 2002 [15] |
a For the year given.
These coal mines closed before the 21st century.
|
| Mine | Traditional county | Opened | Closed | Peak manpower [a] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North East England | ||||||
| Boldon Colliery | County Durham | 1866 | 1982 | (?) | ||
| Castle Eden colliery [16] | County Durham | 1842 | 1959 | 891 (1880s) | ||
| Dawdon Colliery [17] | County Durham | 5 October 1907 | 25 July 1991 | 3,798 (1930) | ||
| Newbottle Colliery [18] | County Durham | 1774 | 1956 | 1,199 (1921) | ||
| Shincliffe colliery [19] | County Durham | 1839 | 1875 | (?) | ||
| East Midlands and Yorkshire | ||||||
| Asfordby Colliery | Leicestershire | 1991 | 1997 | 490 | Last deep coal mine to be sunk in England. | |
| Babbington Colliery | Nottinghamshire | 1841 | 1986 | |||
| Bagworth Colliery | Leicestershire | 1832 | 1991 | |||
| Hucknall No.1 Colliery | Nottinghamshire | 1861 | 1943 | |||
| Hucknall No.2 Colliery | Nottinghamshire | 1865 | 1986 | |||
| Ollerton Colliery | Nottinghamshire | 1920s | 1994 | |||
| Silverwood Colliery | Yorkshire | 1900 | 1994 | |||
| North West and North Staffordshire | ||||||
| Ellerbeck Colliery | Lancashire | 1876 | 1965 | (?) | ||
| Golborne Colliery [20] | Lancashire | 1860s | 1989 | (?) | Site of explosion (1979) in which 10 workers died. | |
| Silverdale Colliery | Staffordshire | (?) | 1998 | (?) | Last active coal mine in Staffordshire. | |
| South East England | ||||||
| Snowdown Colliery [21] | Kent | 1907 | 1987 | |||
| Betteshanger Colliery | Kent | 1927 | 1989 | |||
| Tilmanstone Colliery | Kent | 1906 | 1986 | |||
| Chislet Colliery | Kent | 1914 | 1969 | |||
Wwa With given year of peak.
The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and northwest, Herefordshire to the north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east.
Knottingley is a town in the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on the River Aire and the old A1 road before it was bypassed as the A1(M). Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it has a population of 13,503, increasing to 13,710 for the City of Wakefield ward at the 2011 Census. It makes up the majority of the Knottingley ward represented on Wakefield Council.
Murton is a village in County Durham, England. Lying eight miles (13 km) east of the city of Durham and six miles (9.7 km) south of Sunderland, it has a population of 4,534, increasing to 7,676 at the 2011 Census.
Haig Colliery Mining Museum was a visitor attraction in Kells, on the site of Cumbria's last deep coal mine on the cliffs above Whitehaven in Cumbria, England. It closed in January 2016 due to insolvency.
Freeminer is an ancient title given to coal or iron miners in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England, who have earned the right to mine personal plots, known as gales.
UK Coal Production Ltd, formerly UK Coal plc, was the largest coal mining business in the United Kingdom. The company was based in Harworth, in Nottinghamshire. The company was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The successor company that contains the former property division, Harworth Group, is still listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The Maltby Main Colliery was a coal mine located 7 miles (11 km) east of Rotherham on the eastern edge of Maltby, South Yorkshire, England. The mine was closed in 2013.
Mining in Wales provided a significant source of income to the economy of Wales throughout the nineteenth century and early to mid twentieth century. It was key to the Industrial Revolution in Wales, and to the whole of Great Britain.
Kellingley Colliery, known affectionately as the 'Big K', was a deep coal mine in North Yorkshire, England, 3.6 miles (5.8 km) east of Ferrybridge power station. It was owned and operated by UK Coal.
The South Yorkshire Coalfield is so named from its position within Yorkshire. It covers most of South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and a small part of North Yorkshire. The exposed coalfield outcrops in the Pennine foothills and dips under Permian rocks in the east. Its most famous coal seam is the Barnsley Bed. Coal has been mined from shallow seams and outcrops since medieval times and possibly earlier.
The Bicslade Tramroad was a wagonway built by the Severn and Wye Railway (S&WR) in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, England. The first section of the line was opened in 1812 as a branch of the S&WR plateway from Lydney to Lydbrook, which had opened in 1810. It was expanded over time to serve the collieries and quarries in the Bixslade valley ; the last stretch, to Bixhead Quarry, opened in 1855. Stone traffic ceased in 1944 and coal followed in 1946.
Hatfield Colliery, also known as Hatfield Main Colliery, was a colliery in the South Yorkshire Coalfield, mining the High Hazel coal seam. The colliery was around 1 mile (1.6 km) northwest of Hatfield, South Yorkshire, adjacent north of the railway line from Doncaster to Scunthorpe northeast of Hatfield and Stainforth railway station.
Open-pit coal mining in the United Kingdom is in decline, and is planned to end in November 2023. Output has fallen every year since 2010. In 2010, the United Kingdom was forecast to produce about ten million tonnes of coal a year from open-pit mines. Most came from Scotland, with the largest operator there being the Scottish Coal subsidiary of Scottish Resources Group. Actual production in 2010 was over 13 million tonnes but this has declined to less than 8 million tonnes in 2014.
Coal mining in the United Kingdom dates back to Roman times and occurred in many different parts of the country. Britain's coalfields are associated with Northumberland and Durham, North and South Wales, Yorkshire, the Scottish Central Belt, Lancashire, Cumbria, the East and West Midlands and Kent. After 1972, coal mining quickly collapsed and had practically disappeared by the 21st century. The consumption of coal—mostly for electricity—fell from 157 million tonnes in 1970 to 18 million tonnes in 2016, of which 77% was imported from Colombia, Russia, and the United States. Employment in coal mines fell from a peak of 1,191,000 in 1920 to 695,000 in 1956, 247,000 in 1976, 44,000 in 1993, and to 2,000 in 2015.
Ellington Colliery, was a coal mine situated to the south of the village of Ellington in Northumberland, England. The colliery was the last deep coal mine in the north east of England. At one time, the deepest part of the mine was 800 metres (2,600 ft) and it extended 15 miles (24 km) under the North Sea. During the 1980s, the pit was known as the biggest undersea mine in the world and produced 69% of the mined coal in Northumberland.
The Forest of Dean Coalfield, underlying the Forest of Dean, in west Gloucestershire, is one of the smaller coalfields in the British Isles, although intensive mining during the 19th and 20th centuries has had enormous influence on the landscape, history, culture, and economy of the area.
Bentley Colliery was a coal mine in Bentley, near Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England, that operated between 1906 and 1993. In common with many other mines, it suffered disasters and accidents. The worst Bentley disaster was in 1931 when 45 miners were killed after a gas explosion. The site of the mine has been converted into a woodland.
Monckton Coke Works was a coking plant near Royston in South Yorkshire, England. The plant opened in 1884 and was closed 130 years later in 2014, being one of the last remnants of the coal industry in Yorkshire. In the 21st century, it was known as being the last independent coke works in the United Kingdom. For many years it was known for its high-quality coking coal, even being exported to coal-rich South Africa for use in steelmaking. However, in 2013/2014, the market was swamped with cheap imports from the Far East, spelling the demise of Monckton due to it being uneconomical.
Ironstone mining in Cleveland and North Yorkshire occurred on a sizeable scale from the 1830s to the 1960s in present day eastern parts of North Yorkshire but has been recorded as far back as Roman times in mostly a small-scale and intended for local use. This Cleveland is not to be confused with a smaller area covered by the county of Cleveland from 1974-96.