Shaft sinking records relating to Wollaton Colliery and Radford Colliery, Nottinghamshire, 1873-1905

The first part of the collection consists of contemporary records of the progress of sinking shafts at both collieries:

Bound volume (330 x 210mm) of data for the Wollaton shafts, with printed title page reading 'Section of Strata passed through in sinking the Wollaton Collieries on the estate of the Right Honourable Lord Middleton at Wollaton, in the County of Nottingham'. The volume contains handwritten pages recording daily progress of sinking three shafts between 1873 and 1877: No. 1 Shaft (originally entered, towards the back of the volume, as 'No. 3' and subsequently altered), with notes in red biro [20th century] highlighting the seams of coal; No. 2 Shaft; and No. 3 Shaft (originally entered as 'No. 1' and subsequently altered). The volume also includes records of strata in bore holes sunk in 1877. In each case, the details are entered under columns for the date of the work, the running number of each stratum, a description of the rock, the thickness of the stratum, the total depth of the shaft, and other remarks. (MS 822/1);

Loose sheets (6 ff) of data for the Radford shaft, formerly loose inside volume MS 822/1, entitled 'Section of Sinking Shaft situated at Radford, Nottingham, for the Wollaton Colliery Co. Ltd. 1898'. The sheets are handwritten and record daily progress between 1898 and 1900. The details are entered under columns for a description of the stratum, its thickness, and the total depth of the shaft; strata of coal deposits were highlighted in red at the time of the making of the record. (MS 822/2).

The second part of the collection consists of two handwritten, coloured and illustrated charts by E.O. Burrows, scale 20 feet to 1 inch, showing the different rock types in each stratum (with the coal seams shown in solid black), their thickness, and depth:

Chart by E.O. Burrows, entitled 'Section of Strata sunk through at Radford Colliery, 1898-1900, measuring 1320 x 340mm, and dated 26 Jun. 1905. (MS 822/3);

Chart by E.O. Burrows, entitled 'Section of Strata sunk through at the No. 1 Pit, Wollaton Colliery', measuring 1100 x 320mm, and dated 28 Sep. 1905. (MS 822/4).

Wollaton and Radford Collieries were built on land belonging to Lord Middleton of Wollaton Hall, and managed jointly by the Wollaton Colliery Company Ltd. As there was only one shaft at Radford, it was joined to Wollaton Colliery for ventilation reasons.

According to the records in this collection, the sods of earth for three separate shafts at Wollaton were turned on 17 June 1873, and sinking commenced the following day. No. 1 Shaft was completed on 30 November 1874 and reached a depth of 212 yards 1 foot 1 inch. No. 2 Shaft was completed on 4 August 1874 and reached a depth of 207 yards 0 feet 2 inches. No. 3 Shaft was dug until 28 November 1873, and then recommenced from 6 September 1875 to 25 December 1876, reaching a depth of 472 yards. Wollaton Colliery closed in 1965.

A shaft at Radford was commenced in 1898. Sinking continued until 13 March 1900, when the shaft had a depth of 287 yards 1 foot 0 inches. This colliery closed in 1961.

No archival arrangement has been necessary

Accessible to all readers.

This description is the only finding aid available for the collection. Copyright in the description belongs to The University of Nottingham.

The edges of the papers are slightly fragile, and some pages in the bound volume have come loose.

Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in writing from the Keeper of Manuscripts and Special Collections

Reprographic copies can be supplied for educational and private study purposes only, depending on access status and the condition of the documents.

The items were acquired by the University from a private individual in June 2008.

Papers in the Middleton Collection relating to the Wollaton Colliery Company Ltd (reference: Mi 4 E 40-147)

Nottinghamshire Archives: Administrative records of the Wollaton Colliery Company Ltd. (reference: NCB 13)