Old_Eastern_United_Colliery_buildings_-_geograph

Eastern United Colliery was a

drift mine Drift mining is either the mining of an ore deposit by Underground mining (hard rock), underground methods, or the working of coal seams accessed by adits driven into the surface outcrop of the coal bed. A drift mine is an underground mine in whic ...

in the

Forest of Dean The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the Counties of England, county of Gloucestershire, England. It forms a roughly triangle, triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and no ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( , ; abbreviated Glos.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Herefordshire to the north-west, Worcestershire to the north, Warwickshire to the north-east, Oxfordshire ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

served by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

's Forest of Dean Branch. The colliery was one of the seven areas of deep gales - founded after the Dean Forest (Mines) Act in 1904. The colliery exploited six seams containing of coal which could give a working life of around 200 years (at an extraction rate of per annum. The principal coal seam was the Coleford High Delf, a steam coal much in demand and said to be up to thick. Demand led to discussions with the Great Western Railway over the provision of a link to its network.

History

The first gale was granted on 19 March 1906 to Mr. J. R. Brown. Henry Crawshay & Company was offered the gale in October 1907 and completed the purchase on 24 December 1907. The purchase took place because the company was aware that the coal reserves at its Lightmoor Colliery would not last ten years, let alone the predicted twenty. Construction of the railway connection began in 1908 along with the sidings but the facilities were basic, having a two-lever ground frame allowing access to the complex. A signal box at Eastern United was not provided until late 1913. In early 1914 it was announced that Eastern was not the success everyone hoped as the western portion of the gale could not be exploited because of its geological condition. By 1916 its fortunes had changed, the coal seam had levelled out. By April 1919 output was up to per day. Accounts showed that the colliery was running at a loss until 1923, except for a small profit made in 1919. Expenditure at Eastern was made to modernise the facilities (including the repair and replacement of the boilers, the fitting of electricity and pumping equipment) and the provision of railway vehicles. In 1914 twenty wagons were purchased from the

Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company (GRC&W) was a railway rolling stock manufacturer based in Gloucester, England from 1860 until 1986. Products included goods wagons, passenger coaches, diesel multiple units, electric multiple uni ...

(at a cost of £16 5s 6d per wagon) to complement thirty others. The older wagons had been rented and subsequently purchased (at a cost of £8 16s per wagon) from the Ince Waggon & Ironworks Co. of Wigan, through their broker - the Lincoln Wagon Co. of Doncaster. The colliery was nationalized in 1947 and became part of the

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

South Western Division. It closed on 30 January 1959.

References

{{Coord, 51, 48, 00, N, 02, 30, 37, W, type:landmark_region:GB-GLS, display=title Underground mines in England Forest of Dean Coal mines in Gloucestershire

History

See also

References