A pit village, colliery village or mining village is a settlement built by colliery owners to house their workers. The villages were built on the coalfields of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

during the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

where new coal mines were developed in isolated or unpopulated areas. Such settlements were developed by companies for the incoming workers.

Examples

* New Sharlston Colliery Village, Yorkshire (1864) *

Howe Bridge Howe Bridge is a suburb of Atherton, Greater Manchester, England. Historically within Lancashire, it is situated to the south west of Atherton town centre on the B5215, the old turnpike road from Bolton to Leigh. The settlement was built as a ...

, Atherton, Lancashire (1873–79) * Gin Pit village,

Tyldesley Tyldesley () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan in Greater Manchester, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, it is north of Chat Moss near the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, southeast of Wigan ...

, Lancashire (1874) * Creswell Model Village, Derbyshire (1895) *

New Bolsover model village New Bolsover model village is a village adjoining the town of Bolsover in Derbyshire. History The pit village was begun in 1891 by the Bolsover Mining Company. It is a model village built by philanthropic colliery owners which was to benefit and ...

, Derbyshire (1896) * Newstead Colliery Village * Woodlands, Yorkshire (1905)

In popular culture

The 1939 film ''

The Stars Look Down ''The Stars Look Down'' is a 1935 novel by A. J. Cronin which chronicles various injustices in an English coal mining community. A film version was released in 1940, and television adaptations include both Italian (1971) and British (1975) v ...

'', based on the 1935 novel of the same name by

A. J. Cronin Archibald Joseph Cronin (19 July 1896 – 6 January 1981), known as A. J. Cronin, was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known novel is ''The Citadel'' (1937), about a Scottish doctor who serves in a Welsh mining village before achievi ...

, is set in the fictional pit village of Sleescale. The film was shot partly on location at St Helens Siddick Colliery in

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

. The novel ''

How Green Was My Valley ''How Green Was My Valley'' is a 1939 novel by Richard Llewellyn, narrated by Huw Morgan, the main character, about his Welsh family and the mining community in which they live. The author had claimed that he based the book on his own persona ...

'' and the subsequent film adaptation of the same name were based in a fictional pit village in the South Wales Valleys. A fictional village in this region was the site of the film '' The Proud Valley'', starring

Paul Robeson Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplish ...

. ''

Billy Elliot ''Billy Elliot'' is a 2000 British coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Lee Hall. Set in County Durham in North East England during the 1984–1985 miners' strike, the film is about a working-class boy w ...

'', set in a fictitious pit village during the

miners' strike Miners' strikes are when miners conduct strike actions. See also *List of strikes References {{Reflist Miners A miner is a person who extracts ore, coal, chalk, clay, or other minerals from the earth through mining. There are two s ...

of 1984–85, was shot on location in

Easington Colliery Easington Colliery is a town in County Durham, England, known for a history of coal mining. It is situated to the north of Horden, a short distance to the east of Easington Village. The town suffered a significant mining accident on 29 May 19 ...

. ''

Brassed Off ''Brassed Off'' is a 1996 British comedy-drama film written and directed by Mark Herman and starring Pete Postlethwaite, Tara Fitzgerald and Ewan McGregor. The film is about the troubles faced by a colliery brass band, following the closure ...

'' was set in "Grimley", a thin veil for Grimethorpe. The depopulation of Fitzwilliam,

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

was the theme of a song by

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enoug ...

and David Peace's novel ''Nineteen Seventy Four''.

References

Citations Bibliography * Villages in the United Kingdom {{Geo-term-stub