Baddesley Colliery (disused)

 colliery  Add category

 Upload a photo

Coal has been mined in the area of the present Baddesley colliery for centuries past, the coal being gained initially from open pits or adits in the surrounding fields as early as the fifteenth century; some fields still bear such names as Colepit Fields. Larger pits existed in the nineteenth century and in 1848 Baddesley had three - Maypole Pit (the remains of the shaft are still to be seen near the Maypole Inn), Hene Pit and New Church Pit. The present colliery was sunk in the latter part of the century - about 1876 - to replace these. The colliery was founded by William Stratford Dugdale, a member of the prominent local family, who incidentally lost his life in May 1882 while assisting in rescue operations after an underground disaster at the pit. The ownership was in the hands of the Trustees of the Baddesley Colliery until in June 1926, Baddesley Collieries Limited was formed: on 1st January 1947, of course., the company was nationalized to become part of the National Coal Board, West Midland Division.