Chatterley Whitfield

Chatterley Whitfield Colliery is a disused coal-mine on the outskirts of Chell in Stoke-on-Trent. It was the largest mine in North Staffordshire and was the first colliery in the UK to produce 1,000,000 tons of saleable coal in a year.

In 1974 it was decided that Chatterley Whitfield coal could be more easily worked from Wolstanton Colliery and an underground roadway was driven to join the two pits. In 1976 coal drawing at Chatterley Whitfield came to an end. Two years later, a Trust was formed to establish the Chatterley Whitfield Mining Museum.

The Museum opened to the public in 1979 and offered an underground tour of the disused tunnels to visitors, which included a trip down the main 700 ft. deep Winstanley access shaft. In 1989 the National Coal Board's national collection of mining artefacts was brought to Chatterley Whitfield for permanent exhibition, heightening hopes that the site would become Britain's primary mining museum. There were proposals to extend the attractions by building a group of miners' cottages and a pub, as well as running a monorail linking Chatterley Whitfield with Ford Green Hall.

However, in 1986, the guided tour of the old pit workings had to be withdrawn after they were flooded following the closure of Wolstanton Colliery, which was connected underground to the Chatterley Whitfield complex. This caused the number of visitors to the museum to reduce almost by a half after reaching a peak of 75,000 in a year. The underground tour was replaced by a simulated pitshaft and workings, but the fibreglass imitation mine was only 30 feet below the surface and held less appeal for visitors.

The Museum Trust found itself with an £80,000 overdraft which couldn't be repaid, as revenue from visitors had fallen and an annual grant from the city council had been reduced. The Chatterley Whitfield Museum Trust was forced into liquidation and the NCB collection was transferred to Caphouse Colliery in Yorkshire.

However, many of the donated items were sold off by the liquidators at an auction. This created such resentment that the rules on selling museum items in future were changed.

The Museum operated for twelve years in total but finally closed in August 1991. The site was then declared a local nature reserve in 1991 and a scheduled monument by English Heritage in 1993. It is owned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

Future plans

The Chatterley Whitfield Partnership was set up in 1999 between English Heritage, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Advantage West Midlands and Joan Walley MP to find a way to restore the derelict colliery.

External links

Chatterley Whitfield Friends website


Chatterley Whitfield Friends Facebook Page

Buildings and structures in Stoke-on-Trent
England
Industrial Revolution
Underground mines in England
Defunct museums in England

{{Staffordshire-geo-stub