Locomotive Shed at Snibston Colliery

Summary

A locomotive shed, originally dating to the first phase of the development of Snibston Colliery and later extended. An important element of the integrated colliery site at Snibston, now recognised as one of the most important sites representative of the C19 and C20 coal mining industry in England.

Reasons for Designation

The Locomotive Shed, at the former Snibston Colliery, a component of one of the best and most complete surviving examples of a mining complex dating from the British coal industry's period of peak production, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Historic interest:

* As elements of a multi-phase integrated colliery complex recognised as one of the four such sites which best represent the coal mining industry in England from the late C19 to the period of peak production in the mid-C20;
* As buildings forming part of a colliery complex first developed by the celebrated engineer George Stephenson, and incrementally developed throughout the C19 and the first half of the C20;
* As buildings which contribute to the integrity, context and setting of an historic industrial site acknowledged as being of national importance by its designation as a Scheduled Monument.

Architectural interest:

* As specialist industrial building types representative of evolving aspects of colliery activity at different stages of the coal mining industry's development in England;
* As buildings which retain significant interior fabric, fixtures, fittings and plan form, characteristics which enhance their special interest as components of an historic colliery site.

Group Value:

* As a component of an integrated colliery site, with strong functional and visual group value with other designated parts of the colliery.

History

Snibston Colliery was first developed in 1831-1832 by the celebrated engineer George Stephenson and his son Robert, working in partnership with Joseph Sanders and Sir Joshua Warmsley.

The early colliery was operated by means of three shafts, and was further developed throughout the C19 and the first half of the C20. During the First World War, a fourth shaft was sunk and equipped with a steel-framed headstocks, winding house and winding engine. This shaft was sunk to increase the output of the mine, which had been limited by the scale of its winding capacity and surface coal handling facilities. The new shaft was served by new pit top buildings and a new set of screens, and, as part of the same phase of renewal, engineering and joinery workshops, a compressor house and a stable building were constructed. In 1942 the wooden headgear of the No.1 shaft was replaced with a steel-framed headstocks, and following the nationalisation of the coal industry in 1947, further development took place in the 1950’s, including the addition of an explosives store, a power house, and, on an adjacent site, a canteen and pithead baths. A programme of modernisation in the 1960’s and 1970’s saw the replacement of the steam winding engine with electric motors and the construction of a coal preparation plant, an accompanying small-gauge rail system and new brick pithead buildings. In 1967 new service buildings were also added, including workshops, stores and a large administration block which included not only offices, but also a lamp room, time office, control room and medical centre. In 1976 a new fan and fanhouse were constructed for No 1 pit, a prototype development which provided the technological solution to the problem of excessive fan and motor noise throughout the coal mining industry.

As a result of the developments begun in 1961, Snibston became the hub of a group of four mines which were linked below ground, the coal from all four sites being handled at the Snibston coal preparation plant. The colliery continued production until its closure in 1986, and the site subsequently became the Snibston Discovery Park, opened in 1992 following the purchase of the site by Leicestershire County Council. The main central area of the colliery site was scheduled on the 19th March 1999, having been assessed as one of the four colliery sites in England which best represent the development of the coal industry in England since the 1890’s. A number of buildings were excluded from the scheduling, listing being considered to be the most appropriate form of designation for these structures.

The Locomotive Shed, part of the early and mid-C19 development of Snibston Colliery, was built to house locomotives used to transport materials to and from the screens where the mined coal was sorted, and from the colliery on to the railway line to the south of the main colliery complex.

Details

A small C19 locomotive shed forming part of the Snibston Colliery complex, built around 1831 to house and service colliery locomotives, and enlarged between 1913 and 1915.

MATERIALS: red brick with blue brick detailing and a Welsh slate roof covering.

PLAN: linear plan, of two phases.

EXTERIOR: the engine shed is a stepped, narrow-bodied, single-storey building, accessed at the east gable end via a single track. The earlier eastern phase is of three bays with a tall double doorway with C20 framed, ledged and braced timber doors. There are two window openings with semi-circular arched heads and C20 multi-pane frames on the south side wall. The north wall has two windows with cast-iron frames with intersecting glazing bars in pointed-arched heads. A third opening has been infilled. The roof stricture incorporates two vents, one square, the other rectangular, gabled and louvred. Further west is the taller, five-bay extension with recessed panels to the side walls, each side with three openings housing C20 multi-pane frames below shallow segmental-arched heads. There is a single doorway to the south side wall. The roof incorporates two square vents and two gabled and louvred vents, matching those to the roof of the original phase.

INTERIOR: the interior of the engine shed is of open plan form, with king-post trusses supporting single side purlins. Paired bridging beams support square cowls connected to the roof vents. There is a singe hearth to the south side wall of the earlier east section of the building, and an inspection pit in the west section.

End of official list entry

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