Siston Hill Pit - Located Siston Common near Norman Rd, Warmley California Pit - Located near Handford Way Cadbury Heath. Some original buildings and boundary walls still remain.
In 1876 the Cowhorn Hill Colliery was purchased by Abraham Fussell. He deepened the old Blowbottom Shaft to 640 yards where he reached the valuable Smiths coal, only 18 inches thick but in great demand. He renamed the shaft - CALIFORNIA. Fussell thought that, like the gold mines in California, it would make his fortune.
The American connection is still seen in the street names off Longbeach Rd. The slag heap was in existence until recently opposite Orchard Boulevard. An inclined branch tramroad 650 yards long connected the mine to the Avon and Gloucester dramway, which had ceased to work in 1861 but which was quickly reopened - the Peghouse shaft was reopened for ventilation - this must be in the vicinity of Cradock Close. Until the Longbeach Estate was built in the 1980s, you could walk from California Pit and follow the dramway to Willsbridge Valley. The last 100 metres is still a pathway.
Unfortunately in 1904 a tremendous flood burst through the workings and miners barely escaped with their lives. One who was caught up in the torrent and washed clear back to the shaft at pit bottom bemoaned the loss of his silver pocket watch left in his waistcoat pocket on a shelf in the workings where it is meant to be to this day.
The catastrophe bankrupted the company and the workshops were eventually purchased by the West Gloucester Water Works for £6,000. The water after chemical treatment, supplied a large area of South Gloucestershire - 20,000 gallons an hour could be pumped out.
Coronation Pit - Located near St Davids Ave, Cadbury Heath. - Opened in an attempt to get at the Parrot seam. The shaft was renamed the Coronation Pit in honour of Edward VII. The only remaining clue to its location is the coal yard on Cadbury Heath Road with the suspiciously large plot of land behind it which has only recently been built on.
Golden Valley - The Golden Valley area to the north of Bitton had several early mineworkings most are now quite hard to locate. Firstly near the junction of Beach Hill and Golden Valley Road where disturbed ground at the left of Beach Hill might mark a site. The next at is between New Pit Lane and the Old Mill on Golden Valley, the Old Pit which is completely covered by a coppice today - farmers obviously screening off this potentially dangerous site from their livestock - the site can clearly be identified as it lies two fields beyond White House Farm.
Thirdly there is Painters Pit which is marked by a chimney in the middle of a field. A fire lit in the heart of the chimney would suck up foul air from the mine and ventilate it. There are two other sites on New Pit Lane which seem promising - opposite Rockhouse Farm there is a deep gully in the hillside which looks like the entrance to an adit. A few years ago the gully was used as a rubbish dump so it's not as clear as it used to be but a tree marks the spot.
Also it is edged by drystone walls - a giveaway sign, a public footpath is very close by. Secondly, further down just before New Pit Lane bridges the River Boyd is a mound - again on the right. On the far side it is deeply cut away and suggests possibly a small spoil heap or a mine entrance. The seams worked in Golden Valley were the Millgrit, Rag, Buff and Parrot, the latter at 1920 feet. These collieries were owned by the Brain family of Fifteen Acre Farm. In 1898 the Golden Valley Colliery closed but was bought by Philip Fussell of Oldland Colliery Company as both workings had almost connected and he did not want any more competition.
Even with large scale maps it is often difficult to trace these mines. Housing development and farming combine to obscure and obliterate. Your local knowledge could provide clues which help fit this jigsaw together. It is to be wondered if many newcomers to this area know that their houses might be built over coal shafts. Perhaps they will wake up one morning to find a mine shaft outside their back door, which happened a few years ago to a resident of the High Street terrace in Oldland.
Hole Lane Pit / Bull Hole Pit / Bull Hall Pit - Located near Noble Avenue North Common. Hole Lane Pit Located opposite Redfield Edge School, Bath Road Oldland. (Some info provided by Shaun Harris of North Common) The 'barn' adjacent to, and jutting out into the school playing field was, it is thought, the coal sorting shed and workshop for these pits. Further up the High street on the right hand side can be seen a line of small brick sheds.
These were the cobblers' and clog makers' workshops. The houses in a rank near the school (towards Oldland), are rather well made miners' cottages. These pits worked the same local seams but at a greater depth' the Parrot seam now being at 660 feet. The Hole Lane Pit was directly connected to the Avon and Gloucester dramway and indeed supplied its first load.
The Bullhall Pit was also a nearby mine and worked the Millgrit and Rag seams. It was connected to the Avon and Gloucester tramway by a spur.
The Mine Owner's house at High Street Oldland has its side extended and an outhouse at the beyond. Here the miners would queue up for their wages - or sent their wives to get them. The Bullhall Pit was closed and capped in 1881 Cowhorn Hill Pit Located bottom of Cowhorn Hill (on site of Warmley Golf Course) Pumping station building still remains nearby. Originally the pumping station removed the water from the pit and pumped it to Soundwell (the old Bristol Waterworks site), where it was distributed on the public main.
It's interesting to note that this early tradition of re-cycling persists today on the site. Glass and cans etc collected in the local area are amassed here for re-cycling at various 'out of area' locations. A case of history repeating itself ?
Grimsbury Pit - Located adjacent to Grimsbury Farm, Kingswood - There were also numerous other mine workings known as bell mines. These were shallow in construction in the shape of a bell. One such mine was located near Westland Avenue in Oldland. More information on any local mine workings is urgently required. (dates of operation, photo's etc.) Use the link at foot of this page. All of the local heaths and commons saw colliery activity at one time or another, usually by means of bell pits, one of the earliest forms of mining.
Some buildings remain. The engine house shown here in the 1960's was rebuilt in the early years of the 20th century in the hope of re-opening the mines. mouseover for 2004 view The remains of the Crown Colliery are one of the best examples of later mining activity in the Kingswood coal fields.
Coal mining here was probably started centuries before and the ancient field name of 'Pickpocked' described very poor, disturbed ground. This gives credence to the industry which scoured the upper seams for its coal and deposited waste material on top of the soil. When horse and then steam winding engines were introduced, multiple pits gave way to deep shafts and long galleries which followed the seams of coal.
William Champion's demand for coal in the mid 18th century saw a surge of activity locally and Crown Colliery, with its close proximity to Warmley Tower, would have provided much of its supplies. In the early 19th century there were three horse gin pits at Crown Colliery and by the middle of the last century they had been replaced by a single Engine House working two pits, one to the rear of Hembrough's yard and the other across the road.
The position of original engine house, set back much further from the road than the replacement. A variety of owners controlled Crown Colliery throughout the 19th century including George Davidson of Warmley House and Gabriel Goldney.
The pit closed in 1888 removing employment for upward of 100 local people. Many of the miners who had been employed in Crown Collieries found themselves working below ground in the Cowhom Hill Pit. The colliery was connected by coal seams to Coronation Pit at Cadbury Heath Road, and to California Pit at Longwell Green.
The pit reopened briefly at the turn of the century when an attempt was made to drain the flooded shafts at the lower end using the new engine house and stack to power the pumps. The plan was also to drive a drift mine from Webbs Heath to work the seams from both ends. Unfortunately the Webbs Heath shaft was driven in at the wrong angle and in the wrong place so the project had to be abandoned in January 1901. Attempts were made to reopen the Warmley pits in 1912/13 and again in 1919 but the seam stretched under Midland Railway property, making the project unfeasible.
It must be noted that thousands of tons of unclaimed coal still remain where it was formed millions of years ago.
