Markham Main Colliery
Markham Main Colliery in August 1980
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| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Armthorpe, DN3 2BP |
| Unitary authority | Doncaster, South Yorkshire |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 53°32′15″N 1°04′22″W / 53.5374°N 1.07286°WCoordinates: 53°32′15″N 1°04′22″W / 53.5374°N 1.07286°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Coal |
| History | |
| Opened | 1916 |
| Closed | 1996 |
Markham Main Colliery was a coal mine in Armthorpe, on the eastern edge of Doncaster. It could be seen, and was a landmark, from the nearby M18. 87 miners were killed at the pit.
It was sunk on 6 May 1916 and work continued until 24 August 1916 when work stopped because of the war. Work continued on 21 May 1922. Coal was first recovered on 5 May 1924. The site cost around £1 million and a model village for the pit (Armthorpe) was built.
For many years it was used as a training pit for the local area, with a training tunnel. In the 1950s it had around 2,700 workers. A domestic fuel processing plant was built in 1966.
In the mid-1980s the pit had around 1,500 employees. When the 1980s miners' strike finished in 1985, Markham Main was the last Yorkshire pit to return to work, three days later.
On its initial closure in 1992 it had around 730 workers.
It closed in 1996 when it had 50 million tonnes of coal reserves, enough for around fifty years. The site is now a housing estate, next to Sandall Beat Wood.
It was first run as Markham Main Colliery Ltd.
It was taken over by Doncaster Amalgamated Collieries Ltd in February 1937, based at The Lodge on South Parade in Doncaster. This company also owned Yorkshire Main Colliery at Edlington. The Chairman of this company was William Humble, whose son was Bill Humble the aviator and granddaughter is Kate Humble. William Humble was a mining engineer who had overseen the construction of the pit.
The British coal industry was nationalised in July 1946.
The British coal industry was privatised in 1995 and ownership came under Coal Investments. In April 1992 there was a union dispute over the use of private contractors to develop new coalfaces at the pit. This development work would have been in the miners' long-term interests, but the unions claimed it was privatisation by the back-door. British Coal argued that outside contractors would carry out the work much quicker.
Michael Heseltine announced closure the pit in October 1992, as it was thought not to be economically viable; production stopped soon afterwards. After the announcement, local women set up a camp at the site to protest about its closure; this was the first of its kind. Another camp was set up at Houghton Main Colliery as part of the Women Against Pit Closures Campaign. Later in 1992 Michael Heseltine was considering saving the pit, along with one at Betws in Wales. The protests were often accompanied by the colliery band.
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Wikipedia