Site of Smallcombe and Clandown Colliery (Disused) (Radstock)

 invisible, coal mine, historical layer / disappeared object

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The area designated is largely the site of Clandown Pit, Incline & Batches - which closed in 1929. The shaft was 6ft dia and once the deepest pit (1437 ft) in the district.
Plans to sink this pit were mooted in 1793, although the lease wasn't signed until 1801. By chance, it was sunk more or less on the North / South Clandown Fault - which meant that sinking the shaft proved more costly than expected as unforeseen problems were encountered. This resulted in the sinking being temporarily abandoned in 1809.
Among the partners were a number associated with other ventures around this time (William Coxeter James, John Scobell, etc) who decided to raise additional monies to renew sinking. It can be assumed that they believed that a winding shaft positioned on the fault - albeit coincidentally - could perhaps eventually work more extensively on different landings over a longer time span.
Sinking re-started, as stated, and in November 1811, the upper Radstock coal seams were proven at 1200ft, with the Lower Slyving vein being reached at 1437 ft.
A new lease was signed in 1846, but by 1869, Charles Hollwey had become the sole proprietor of the enterprise. However, after re-newing the lease in 1882, he died in 1897.(Much deeper than might have been anticipated).
The Bird family of Norton House had showen an interest in acquiring the pit, though it was son F J Bird who became lessor in 1897 after his father had unexpectedly died before taking control. Bird (son) became lessor of all three Duchy Pits (Clandown, Old Welton & Welton Hill), and within 8 years, had set up a Ltd Co. and sold all his shares to the company, remaining as Chairman.
The final owner up to closure was Sir Frank Beauchamp, who bought Clandown Pit in 1924 as part of his consolidation of ownership of the former Waldegrave Pits and other companies in the Radstock area.
The changes in ownership thoughout the 19th C might be indicative of an undertaking which didn't realise early expectations or achieve significant profitability, with other people believing that they could improve efficiency and output.
The workings were said to be very dirty and not conducive to more modern methods. For example, coal had to be loaded by hand - literally - as it was considered that even the use of shovels created too much dust!
There was also interminable wranglings over which method was most cost-effective in getting the coal to market.
For some long time, a long branch / incline from the Coal Canal dramway was used, though later, with the arrival of the GWR & the relative costs applied by the SCC and GWR resulted in switching methods several times. (The Waldegraves played a part in this indecisiveness, as the family could command a take if the GWR approach was used).
Sir Frank's company didn't invest heavily in Clandown Pit, acquiring it more for the untapped reserves than a viable colliery.(ie primarily extending the life of Ludlows)
Eventually, a standard guage siding directly off the Somerset & Dorset main line did serve the Gas Works, and along the valley botton to the base of the dramway incline from Clandown Pit.
The route of this rather lengthy connection from Clandown pit head to the centre of Radstock reamains more or less traceable throughout its length (which after 200 years must say something its construction).




Smallcombe Pit was the subject of a lease in 1797, when Robert Tudway and the Rev. Richard Chaple Whalley leased all the coal under 32 acres of land to a James Tooker, Francis Whalley, John Billingsley, John James the Elder, Rev. Henry Gould, Joseph Hill, Charles Savage, Simon Hill, Francis White, John James the younger, Richard Langford, and Samual Blacker.
This Partnership was to be known as 'The smallcombe Coal Company'. It is likely work in sinking started that year. IThe winding shaft was 7ft in diam. X 1074ft; no mean shaft for such a little recorded undertaking - to the north west of the pumping shaft.
By 1804, the pit was served by a dramway branch to Clandown Pit, & hence to the incline.
Records are extremely sparse, No details are even known about the surface plan which was a more modest pit than Clandown altogether, situated in the field in the NE of the area designated. Mineral Rights were owned by the Waldergrave Family as opposed to the Duchy of Cornwall at Clandown Pit itself.On the 31st December, 1847, the Waldergrave family took over the working of the colliery from the partnership.
By then, it would seem it was nearing the end of its short life, with only some 120 tons per week on average being landed to the year ending May 1846.
The first underground survey took place in 1854. In 1855, the Radstock Colliery letter book states: 'I am unable to say if the Smallcombe Works will be permanently abandoned; it is suspended for the present'.
The colliery never worked again.
Very few traces remain. Even the former (?modest?) batch was buried under Clandown Batch, and the course of the dramway is now a road.
It would not seem unreasonable to conclude that this long list of Partners in the venture had wholly unrealised expectations from this particular venture.




Down & Warrington, as published by Radstock Museum.