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Shropshire History |
Highley Colliery |
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Highley Colliery, Highley
(SO74838300) Coal In the mid-1870s, the Viggars family opened a brick works at Highley
and sank a shaft in 1874 to extract the Brooch and Four Foot seams. The company was reformed in 1877 when the
Viggars were joined by the Scrivener family.
In 1878, two 9ft diameter shafts were sunk and these hit the 4ft thick
Brooch Seam at a depth of 888ft. By
1900, about 240 men and boys were employed and this had increased to 670 by
1937. To serve the new Highley
Colliery, railway sidings were created south of Highley station and a
standard gauge incline was constructed up the hillside to the colliery so
main line railway trucks could be filled directly with coal from the
colliery. Coal was soon being sent
down the incline to the Severn Valley Railway and thence to feed the steam
engines of the carpet factories in Kidderminster. Clay and shale from the waste tips were
also turned into bricks for local builders.
The colliery continued to run at a profit for many years and was
mechanised with electricity underground and coal cutters. The only problem was that workings were
heading under the River Severn towards Alveley and further away from the
shafts. In 1935, a new shaft was
started at Alveley for coal and man winding, with a concrete headgear and
electric winder. It was connected to
the Highley workings in 1937, at which time Kinlet Colliery was closed and
the men transferred to Highley Colliery.
Men and coal winding were then progressively
transferred to Alveley and by 1940 Highley Colliery was closed, although the
shafts were retained for ventilation. Full output was reached in 1944 at
275,000 tons per annum. Figures from the Mineral Statistics are :-
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