The Lost Ganister and Clay Mines of Sheffield project: 2017 - to date:
Part 3: Wadsley, Worrell
Part 1: Stocksbridge, Deepcar and Wharncliffe is HERE
Part 2: Oughtibridge and Beeley Wood is HERE
Again, like the first two parts of these reports, the remnants are scare and far from spectacular. This is truer here as like the previous two reports, there are no mines. However, there are some interesting remains which I’ve done my best to document and research the history. Mining of ganister goes right back to the mid-1700s but up scaled with increased demand from the steel industry in the second half of the 1800s.
Area Map:
The mines in this area are predominantly ganister mines, including some which yielded some of the highest quality ganister the region produced.
(A) Caledonian Works, Worrall
This largish-sized ganister and fireclay brick-works were owned by the Bramhall family, more specifically Joseph Bramhall. Born into a farming community in Oughtibridge in 1807, he was a pioneer of ganister brick manufacturing and was responsible for establishing the works. He was also credited with developing a grinding machine that could reduce the mined ganister rock into the small grains that were needed for the process (although John Armitage and J.Grayson Lowood would contest this!).
A 1900 O/S Map showing Caledonian works, the tramway and Bull Pierce quarry:
Between 1830 and 1880 the Bramhall’s rented and bought land for mining and quarrying gannister. During this time, in 1865, Bramall’s opened a brickworks with one beehive kiln at Birtin Works. Situated nearby, Caledonian works first appears on O/S maps in 1890, showing three beehive kilns situated to the north-east of the factory. Hence, construction pre-dates this time, with some sources citing it as opening in 1871 and others later in 1879. The main building was more than 100 yards in length. Ganister brick production was discontinued at Birtin works in 1889 with production transferring to Calendonian works. The works latterly passed to the management of Joseph Bramhall’s son, Charles (born 1850), the youngest of his 9 children. By 1900, production had clearly expanded as seven kilns are now clearly marked. By 1910, this had become two rows of 8, before reducing to 8 kilns by 1920. Charles Bramall died aged 71 in 1921.
While the works were operational, ganister was supplied from a number of sources. Due west and linked by tramway constructed in 1879 were the opencast workings at Bull Pierce and continuing further west just past Long Lane, Myers lane ganister mine. There was also a small mine on the western side of the works called Caledonian Fire Clay mine, which closed on 8th May, 1912. Fireclay was also brought in from the small Hope Mine at nearby Hagglestones. The works closed sometime in the early 1930s. By 1950 the works had disappeared altogether.
Done a lot of searching but can’t find a single archive picture of these works. I’ve visited the site twice and I was amazed that how much was actually left if you look carefully.
Unidentified metal box:
This looks like the site of the drift mine entrance:
Remains of a retaining wall:
More evidence of retaining walls:
This old grinding stone was a really lovely find:
Remains of small red-brick building:
An Oughtibridge brick:
An old engine mounting block:
This was an exciting find. An arch of one of the work’s beehive kilns:
And another!
And another small building near the kilns:
(B) Bull Pierce Quarry
Now bang in the middle of Hillsborough golf course, this large L shaped gash in the land was quarried for ganister which was then trammed eastwards to Caledonian works. The land was leased by Joseph Bramhall from John Gibbs (from Weston-Super-Mare) to extract ganister in 1867. The tramway eastwards to Caldedonian works was constructed in 1871. The rails went to the bottom of the quarry face and were periodically moved as the quarrying progressed westwards. The wagons or corves, once loaded, were initially pull by ponies (latterly an engine house was constructed). Then gravity took over as they rolled down to the works on a double stretch of track, gravity pulling the empty corves back up.
Today the steep-sided wooded quarry is easily identifiable and now partially flooded.
(C) Yew’s Mine
Nothing much of note here. There were some small scale workings here from 1863 but once Bramhall’s had leased the land four years later in 1867, things began to expand. However, by 1875 little ganister was being extracted.
(D) Langhouse Mine
Taking its name from Lang house, in 1878, when Charles Bramhall visited the mine he noted it not having rails - something subsequently fixed soon after the mine come under his tenure. Located four miles north-west of Sheffield near the village of Worrall, it was also recorded as Birtin mine, maybe due to supplying ganister to the nearby Birkin works. Accessed via two drift entrances that ran under Long Lane, there was also a drift entrance west of Birtin works. The purpose of the multiple entrances was to improve the ventilation of the mine and to those ends, it had at least two other drift entrances along with two ventilation shafts. The mine was drained by a subterranean water course to the southern end of the working. By 1896 the mine employed five underground workers and three surface workers. Below is a postcard of the quarry mine from 1906. The sender of the postcard lived in the house above (Lang House Farm) and sent the postcard to a friend pointing out how close the workings were to his house. Interestingly the postcard shows a corve, two horses that would have pulled them out of the mine and six mine workers.
The northern reaches of the mine were closed in 1909 and, laterally, the southern workings on March 26th, 1920. One of the tunnels under Long Lane collapsed in 1996 causing the road to close for several days while the whole was infilled. Today, very little in the way of evidence remains, hence why there are no pictures to accompany this entry.
(E) Stubbin Mine
Referred to as Low Stubbin mine to differentiate it from Stubbin colliery, it was located 1.5 miles south of Worrall, near Stubbing Lane. To the east were the workings of the latterly discussed Langhouse mine and to the north old workings made by E&H Brooks between 1885-89 in an area that had been worked extensively for coal previously. It was then reworked from circa 1908 for the 2ft 6in ganister seam that sat below the Hard Bed coal. As a consequence of these previous coal workings, the mine experienced a lot of flooding. The main drift entrance to the south of the mine (now completely gone from the landscape) was on the north side of Stubbing Lane. These large workings also had a northerly drift entrance that was trammed for a short distance before reaching Kirk Edge Road. Here the ganister from the corves was loaded onto lorries for onward transportation by road to owner Oughtibridge Silica Fire Brick Company’s brickworks in Oughtibridge. The mine also had an 8ft air shaft part way along the northern entrance and a 9ft air shaft on its southerly entrance. According to a Sheffield newspaper, the mine was closed on 8th July, 1922 due to it being “worked out”. This is clearly incorrect though as it is recorded in 1923 that the mine had 13 above-ground and four below-ground workers. A more indicative date to closure is given on the mine’s abandonment plan which carries a later date of November 1927.
(F) Haighen Mine
Including this here for completeness as I have a few photos. Next to nothing about this place despite clear evidence of mining activity. It may have well been a small colliery where coal rather than ganister was mined, but it is hard to tell, given the lack of history and the fact that many mines were in fact “mixed” mines. To the north-east were Low Ash quarries
A few pictures. A covered air shaft:
This looks like a raised loading bay:
A nearby gravel pit:
(G) Spitewinter Mine
This small ganister mine one mile west of Worrall was under the ownership of Thos Wragg of Loxley. Entered via a small drift entrance on the north side of Kirk Edge Road where it meets Coal Pit Lane. The mine closed on 19th July 1913 and was subsequently abandoned.
Across the road were a series of gannister pits and quarries that have now been landscaped:
Just one picture from here. The drift entrance to the mine lies at the bottom of this pond:
CONTINUED....
Part 3: Wadsley, Worrell
Part 1: Stocksbridge, Deepcar and Wharncliffe is HERE
Part 2: Oughtibridge and Beeley Wood is HERE
Again, like the first two parts of these reports, the remnants are scare and far from spectacular. This is truer here as like the previous two reports, there are no mines. However, there are some interesting remains which I’ve done my best to document and research the history. Mining of ganister goes right back to the mid-1700s but up scaled with increased demand from the steel industry in the second half of the 1800s.
Area Map:
The mines in this area are predominantly ganister mines, including some which yielded some of the highest quality ganister the region produced.
(A) Caledonian Works, Worrall
This largish-sized ganister and fireclay brick-works were owned by the Bramhall family, more specifically Joseph Bramhall. Born into a farming community in Oughtibridge in 1807, he was a pioneer of ganister brick manufacturing and was responsible for establishing the works. He was also credited with developing a grinding machine that could reduce the mined ganister rock into the small grains that were needed for the process (although John Armitage and J.Grayson Lowood would contest this!).
A 1900 O/S Map showing Caledonian works, the tramway and Bull Pierce quarry:
Between 1830 and 1880 the Bramhall’s rented and bought land for mining and quarrying gannister. During this time, in 1865, Bramall’s opened a brickworks with one beehive kiln at Birtin Works. Situated nearby, Caledonian works first appears on O/S maps in 1890, showing three beehive kilns situated to the north-east of the factory. Hence, construction pre-dates this time, with some sources citing it as opening in 1871 and others later in 1879. The main building was more than 100 yards in length. Ganister brick production was discontinued at Birtin works in 1889 with production transferring to Calendonian works. The works latterly passed to the management of Joseph Bramhall’s son, Charles (born 1850), the youngest of his 9 children. By 1900, production had clearly expanded as seven kilns are now clearly marked. By 1910, this had become two rows of 8, before reducing to 8 kilns by 1920. Charles Bramall died aged 71 in 1921.
While the works were operational, ganister was supplied from a number of sources. Due west and linked by tramway constructed in 1879 were the opencast workings at Bull Pierce and continuing further west just past Long Lane, Myers lane ganister mine. There was also a small mine on the western side of the works called Caledonian Fire Clay mine, which closed on 8th May, 1912. Fireclay was also brought in from the small Hope Mine at nearby Hagglestones. The works closed sometime in the early 1930s. By 1950 the works had disappeared altogether.
Done a lot of searching but can’t find a single archive picture of these works. I’ve visited the site twice and I was amazed that how much was actually left if you look carefully.
Unidentified metal box:
This looks like the site of the drift mine entrance:
Remains of a retaining wall:
More evidence of retaining walls:
This old grinding stone was a really lovely find:
Remains of small red-brick building:
An Oughtibridge brick:
An old engine mounting block:
This was an exciting find. An arch of one of the work’s beehive kilns:
And another!
And another small building near the kilns:
(B) Bull Pierce Quarry
Now bang in the middle of Hillsborough golf course, this large L shaped gash in the land was quarried for ganister which was then trammed eastwards to Caledonian works. The land was leased by Joseph Bramhall from John Gibbs (from Weston-Super-Mare) to extract ganister in 1867. The tramway eastwards to Caldedonian works was constructed in 1871. The rails went to the bottom of the quarry face and were periodically moved as the quarrying progressed westwards. The wagons or corves, once loaded, were initially pull by ponies (latterly an engine house was constructed). Then gravity took over as they rolled down to the works on a double stretch of track, gravity pulling the empty corves back up.
Today the steep-sided wooded quarry is easily identifiable and now partially flooded.
(C) Yew’s Mine
Nothing much of note here. There were some small scale workings here from 1863 but once Bramhall’s had leased the land four years later in 1867, things began to expand. However, by 1875 little ganister was being extracted.
(D) Langhouse Mine
Taking its name from Lang house, in 1878, when Charles Bramhall visited the mine he noted it not having rails - something subsequently fixed soon after the mine come under his tenure. Located four miles north-west of Sheffield near the village of Worrall, it was also recorded as Birtin mine, maybe due to supplying ganister to the nearby Birkin works. Accessed via two drift entrances that ran under Long Lane, there was also a drift entrance west of Birtin works. The purpose of the multiple entrances was to improve the ventilation of the mine and to those ends, it had at least two other drift entrances along with two ventilation shafts. The mine was drained by a subterranean water course to the southern end of the working. By 1896 the mine employed five underground workers and three surface workers. Below is a postcard of the quarry mine from 1906. The sender of the postcard lived in the house above (Lang House Farm) and sent the postcard to a friend pointing out how close the workings were to his house. Interestingly the postcard shows a corve, two horses that would have pulled them out of the mine and six mine workers.
The northern reaches of the mine were closed in 1909 and, laterally, the southern workings on March 26th, 1920. One of the tunnels under Long Lane collapsed in 1996 causing the road to close for several days while the whole was infilled. Today, very little in the way of evidence remains, hence why there are no pictures to accompany this entry.
(E) Stubbin Mine
Referred to as Low Stubbin mine to differentiate it from Stubbin colliery, it was located 1.5 miles south of Worrall, near Stubbing Lane. To the east were the workings of the latterly discussed Langhouse mine and to the north old workings made by E&H Brooks between 1885-89 in an area that had been worked extensively for coal previously. It was then reworked from circa 1908 for the 2ft 6in ganister seam that sat below the Hard Bed coal. As a consequence of these previous coal workings, the mine experienced a lot of flooding. The main drift entrance to the south of the mine (now completely gone from the landscape) was on the north side of Stubbing Lane. These large workings also had a northerly drift entrance that was trammed for a short distance before reaching Kirk Edge Road. Here the ganister from the corves was loaded onto lorries for onward transportation by road to owner Oughtibridge Silica Fire Brick Company’s brickworks in Oughtibridge. The mine also had an 8ft air shaft part way along the northern entrance and a 9ft air shaft on its southerly entrance. According to a Sheffield newspaper, the mine was closed on 8th July, 1922 due to it being “worked out”. This is clearly incorrect though as it is recorded in 1923 that the mine had 13 above-ground and four below-ground workers. A more indicative date to closure is given on the mine’s abandonment plan which carries a later date of November 1927.
(F) Haighen Mine
Including this here for completeness as I have a few photos. Next to nothing about this place despite clear evidence of mining activity. It may have well been a small colliery where coal rather than ganister was mined, but it is hard to tell, given the lack of history and the fact that many mines were in fact “mixed” mines. To the north-east were Low Ash quarries
A few pictures. A covered air shaft:
This looks like a raised loading bay:
A nearby gravel pit:
(G) Spitewinter Mine
This small ganister mine one mile west of Worrall was under the ownership of Thos Wragg of Loxley. Entered via a small drift entrance on the north side of Kirk Edge Road where it meets Coal Pit Lane. The mine closed on 19th July 1913 and was subsequently abandoned.
Across the road were a series of gannister pits and quarries that have now been landscaped:
Just one picture from here. The drift entrance to the mine lies at the bottom of this pond:
CONTINUED....
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