Mostyn Colliery
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Mostyn Colliery was a
coal mine Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
in
Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...
,
North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
, that was owned in the later part of its operating life by the influential
Mostyn Mostyn is a village and community in Flintshire, Wales, and electoral ward lying on the estuary of the River Dee, located near the town of Holywell. It has a privately owned port that has in the past had a colliery and ironworks and was invo ...
family. The colliery was located at
Mostyn Mostyn is a village and community in Flintshire, Wales, and electoral ward lying on the estuary of the River Dee, located near the town of Holywell. It has a privately owned port that has in the past had a colliery and ironworks and was invo ...
on the banks of the River Dee.


Early history

The Welsh writer
Thomas Pennant Thomas Pennant (14 June OS 172616 December 1798) was a Welsh naturalist, traveller, writer and antiquarian. He was born and lived his whole life at his family estate, Downing Hall near Whitford, Flintshire, in Wales. As a naturalist he h ...
wrote that coal mines at Mostyn were established as far back as 1261, during the reign of Edward I. Records show that in 1294, together with a stone quarry, the colliery had a value of £5 annually, and in 1423 was worth £3 6 s 8 d. In the early years, coal was transported from the colliery by boats which approached the quay at high water but the changing river course meant that a partial
canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...
was dug to ensure safe passage. Records show that Thomas Cowper and Richard Mason of London
lease A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
d Mostyn Colliery in 1594. Records suggest that by the 17th century Mostyn was possibly the largest colliery on the western seaboard of Britain and probably the most profitable on the North Wales Coalfield.


The Mostyn Family

In 1602 Cowper and Mason sold a 13-year lease to Roger Mostyn for £70, beginning the colliery's association with what was to become one of North Wales' most influential families. Mostyn began a programme of expansion, and by 1616 there were three pits on the site. By 1619 the colliery was worth in the region of £700 annually to the Mostyns, which suggests a fairly substantial output. In 1639 Roger Mostyn's successor, Sir Roger Mostyn ordered the sinking of three more deep pits. At around this time, it is noted that almost all coal shipped from Chester was entered into the city records as 'Mostyn coal'. A serious explosion occurred at the colliery in 1673. Sir Roger Mostyn gave an account of an explosion caused by
firedamp Firedamp is any flammable gas found in coal mines, typically coalbed methane. It is particularly found in areas where the coal is bituminous. The gas accumulates in pockets in the coal and adjacent strata and when they are penetrated the releas ...
on 3 February 1675. The explosion "''flew to and fro over all the hollows of the work with a great wind and a continued fire, and, as it went, keeping a mighty great roaring noise on all sides''". He described how the blast was heard 15 miles (24 km) away, destroyed the winding gear and felled trees. Mostyn also described how the men who were underground at the time of the blast were singed "''as if they had been whipped with rods; some, that had least shelter, were carried fifteen or sixteen yards y the blastand beaten against the roof of the coal''".


Mostyn Coal and Iron Company

When an ironworks was opened to produce iron using coal from the colliery in 1802, the company was renamed the 'Mostyn Coal and Iron Company'. It was prosperous from the start. In 1806, two explosions occurred causing the deaths of 36 men. In April 1807 a fire resulted in 26 deaths. Several families lost more than one member in the tragedy. Another explosion on 10 March 1809 caused the deaths of 22 men. The 1807 and 1809 explosions killed 50 men, created 26 widows, and left 66 children fatherless. The average price of coal was documented by Mr Robert Anderson, in his 1839 pamphlet ''The Present State of the Coal Trade''. He gave the average price per ton of Mostyn's 'Best Coals' as 8s 6d, with 'Second Coals' at a shilling less, showing Mostyn coal to be amongst the cheapest available in Britain. By the 1840s, the approach to the quayside by boat had been improved and was able to take vessels of 300
ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...
s that moved between 50,000 and 60,000 tons of coal each year. Work started in 1843 on an embankment known locally as the 'cob' that had the dual purpose of reclaiming land from the River Dee, and providing a flood defence. The project known as the Bychan Embankment was funded by the colliery owner
Lord Mostyn Baron Mostyn, of Mostyn in the County of Flint, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1831 for Sir Edward Lloyd, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Flint Boroughs and Beaumaris in the House of Commons. His son ...
, and J. P. Eyton. The embankment was long—around . The cost was around £4,500 and about 70 acres of land were reclaimed. What was, at the time, believed to be one of the largest steam engine cylinders in the world was manufactured for John Lancaster in November 1848 by
Haigh Foundry Haigh Foundry was an ironworks and foundry in Haigh, Lancashire, which was notable for the manufacture of early steam locomotives. Origins Haigh Foundry was established in the Douglas Valley in Haigh around 1790 by Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl ...
, in
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
, for installation in a direct action pumping engine at Mostyn Colliery. It was long, eight feet four inches in
diameter In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints lie on the circle. It can also be defined as the longest chord of the circle. Both definitions are also valid fo ...
, and weighed 22
ton Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses. Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean * the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds ...
s. It was said to have used 30 tons of molten metal in its manufacture, and a sizable crowd of interested observers went to view the
casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...
. Mostyn is also notable in that in 1852, it became one of the first collieries to fit an experimental 'air pump'.


Railway

With the opening of the
Chester and Holyhead Railway The Chester and Holyhead Railway was an early railway company conceived to improve transmission of Government dispatches between London and Ireland, as well as ordinary railway objectives. Its construction was hugely expensive, chiefly due to ...
in 1847, it was only a matter of time before the coal and iron companies took advantage, with the railway passing literally within feet of the site. In 1855, sidings were constructed with access to both the colliery and the ironworks, although the colliery had had its own internal horsedrawn system since the early 18th century. From 1872 until 1888 the Mostyn Coal & Iron Co, was owned by Joshua Lancaster.


Closure

The Mostyn Coal and Iron Company went into liquidation in 1879, in no small part due to changes within the ironworks business, however the full circumstances may never be known, as much of the historical record has been lost. The lease to the colliery was sold as a going concern by the liquidator. The O.S Six-inch map of 1881, shows Hanmer Colliery at 53.31293,-3.25588, and a Copper Works and Ayton Pit where Warwick Chemicals is now. Disaster beset the colliery in 1884 when the river broke through and completely overwhelmed the pits. The event inspired a Welsh-language song. The colliery never re-opened, despite a takeover in 1887 by a
Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...
company to form the Darwen and Mostyn Iron Company, thus ending over 620 years of coal production at Mostyn. However, by this time, serious explorations were under way at the nearby
Point of Ayr :''There are two other similarly named points in the British Isles: Point of Ayre, Isle of Man and Point of Ayre, Orkney, Scotland.'' Point of Ayr ( cy, Y Parlwr Du) is the northernmost point of mainland Wales. It is situated immediately t ...
site, which would ultimately become one of the last deep coal mines in Wales when it closed in 1996.


References


Bibliography

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External links


Welsh Coal Mines website - research the history of the local pit
{{Flintshire Buildings and structures in Flintshire Coal mines in Wales Underground mines in Wales