Headgear at Grange colliery, 240m north west of Watling Street Grange

Reasons for Designation

Coal has been mined in England since Roman times, and between 8,000 and 10,000 coal industry sites of all dates up to the collieries of post-war nationalisation are estimated to survive in England. Three hundred and four coal industry sites, representing approximately 3% of the estimated national archaeological resource for the industry have been identified as being of national importance. This selection, compiled and assessed through a comprehensive survey of the coal industry, is designed to represent the industry's chronological depth, technological breadth and regional diversity. The term `nucleated' is used to describe coal mines that developed as a result of increased capital investment in the 18th and 19th centuries. They are a prominent type of field monument produced by coal mining and typically consist of a range of features grouped around the shafts of a mine. The simplest examples contain merely a shaft or adit with associated spoil heap. Later examples are characterised by developed pit head arrangements that may include remains of engine houses for pumping and/or winding from shafts, boiler houses, fan houses for ventilating mine workings, offices, workshops, pithead baths, and transport systems such as railways and canals. A number of later nucleated mines also retain the remains of screens where the coal was sized and graded. Coke ovens are frequently found on or near colliery sites. Coal occurs in significant deposits throughout large parts of England and this has given rise to a variety of coalfields extending from the north of England to the Kent coast. Each region has its own history of exploitation, and characteristic sites range from the small, compact collieries of north Somerset to the large, intensive units of the north east. A sample of the better preserved sites, illustrating the regional, chronological and technological range of nucleated coal mines, together with rare individual component features are considered to merit protection.

The tandem headgear of Grange colliery, which is understood to be one of only two remaining in situ in the country, survives well. The headgear is therefore a rare example of a feature once relatively common in the coal mining industry.

Details

The monument is situated 240m north west of Watling Street Grange. It includes the standing and buried remains of colliery winding headgear associated with the former Grange colliery. Grange colliery was one of four mines known as the Deepside Mines (the others being Granville, Woodhouse and Stafford) which exploited deep coal reserves in the 19th and 20th centuries. The first shaft at Grange was sunk in 1864, and the mine was fully operative until 1951. At that date its underground workings connected with those of the nearby Granville colliery, and it was thereafter used as a pumping station for Granville until 1979. The tandem headgear (twin-wheeled, with one wheel behind the other), survives in situ, dominating the site of the former colliery. Twin towers of braced girder construction support a two-storied structure of around 20m height, with a single winding wheel at each end. Floor plates and ladders are intact. The headgear is believed to date to around 1870, when the colliery's first winding engine was replaced by a larger one. New colliery buildings were constructed in the 1950s and are still present, but have not been included in the scheduling because of their subsequent alteration and disturbance. The two concrete caravan stands to the south of the headgear are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath them is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

31758

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Pearce, A, Mining in Shropshire, (1995), 27-41
Horton, , Biddle, , The Deepside Mines, (1987), 65
Fearenside, L E, Pit's Progress, (1997)

Other
07278 (incs Grange Colliery), (1995)

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