# Granville Colliery

The Granville Colliery was a coal mine in Swadlincote, Derbyshire, England. It has its origins in a nearby mine established in 1780, but mining began on the site of the colliery in 1823. The Granville Colliery Company was founded in 1872 to take over the mine and expanded the works, opening the Granville No. 2 Colliery nearby. Production peaked at 225,000 long tons (229,000 t) of coal in 1891. The two collieries combined into a single works by 1933 and in 1947 were nationalised under the National Coal Board (NCB). The surface works were closed in 1967 when the underground works were connected with the NCB's Rawdon Colliery, Leicestershire.

## Origins

Granville Colliery has its origins in a colliery opened by Bernard Dewes at the edge of Swadlincote Common around 1780. In 1823 Court Dewes sank the Common and Church Pits to reach the Main seam of the Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfield at the site of the what became Granville No.1 Colliery. The colliery prospered with the development nearby canal and railway networks. In 1847 mineral rights were purchased for land at Gresley Common and in 1859 for Ashby Wolds, allowing expansion of the mine workings.

## Granville Colliery Company

In 1872 the colliery was sold at auction by the trustees of the estate of Court Granville. Most or all of the works were purchased by a syndicate of men, mainly from Birmingham, for £75,000. The purchasers incorporated the Granville Colliery Company on 12 July 1872 and proceeded to expand the workings. A new pit to the east was begun in 1887 and designated the Granville No. 2 Colliery. During this time new mineral rights were acquired by the company as the original seams were exhausted. These new seams were at greater depths than before and were more expensive to exploit. The workforce expanded accordingly; in 1888 the company employed 91 surface and 335 underground workers by the 1890s this rose to a total of around 600 men and boys. In 1891 the company produced its highest ever output of 225,000 long tons (229,000 t) of coal. In the 1890s the No.1 colliery worked the Block, Little and Main Seams and No.2 colliery the Woodfield and Eureka seams.
By 1900 No.1 Colliery had ceased working the Main seam and started on the Cannel seam and No.2 had started to work the Kilburn seam. The Granville Colliery Company also operated the Granville Flour Mill and a nearby fish pond was used as a head of water for the mine and a reception point for water pumped form the workings. The collieries were connected to a branch of the Midland Railway.
In 1906 the Granville Colliery Company bought what was popularly known as the Shoddy Pit for access to additional mining rights. This pit had had a number of owners including Moses Cartwright and its popular name was derived from the poor working conditions there, being liable to flooding and collapse. It had operated for a period as a miners co-operative but this failed in 1896 after a shaft collapsed. The colliery then came into the ownership of Robert Cartwright and Edmund Sharpe (of Sharpe's Pottery) who pumped it out and resumed production but this venture was liquidated in 1897 and the mining rights purchased by Wraggs, a ceramics company, but this venture also failed.
No. 1 Colliery ceased mining the Little seam in March 1915 as it had been exhausted; that same year No. 2 colliery began working the Stockings seam. By 1933 the two collieries were considered as a single entity and were powered by electricity. In that year the company employed 391 underground and 120 surface workers and worked the Woodfield, Kilburn, Two-yard and Yard seams; the colliery also produced fireclay. By 1940 it was working just the Four Feet and Two Yard Seems and had 315 underground and 138 surface workers. The local member of parliament, Herbert Wragg had become a director by this time. In 1941 the colliery opened a bath and canteen building.

## Nationalisation

Ownership of the colliery transferred to the National Coal Board (NCB) in 1947 under the provisions of the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946. At the time of transfer the colliery employed 384 underground workers and 159 surface workers. The surface buildings were closed in 1967 when the underground workings were connected to the Rawdon Colliery, Leicestershire (near to Moira) which continued in operation under the NCB.

## Incidents

The Durham Mining Museum records show that at least 38 men were killed during operation of the colliery, nine of these known deaths came before the Granville Colliery Company took it over and none during the period of NCB control. The earliest recorded death was in 1852 and the last in 1914, which was the last of eight deaths since 1906, all attributed to roof collapses.
One death not recorded by the Durham Mining Museum occurred at 2:10 pm on 24 March 1911 when a gunpowder store exploded. The deceased was Frank Bodycote (also recorded as Bodicote). Bodycote was killed shortly after he entered the store with a horse and cart to withdraw explosives for the next week of mining. The explosion knocked down trees in a nearby plantation and was heard as far away as Burton upon Trent, 6–7 miles (9.7–11.3 km) away, where a vibration similar to an earthquake was felt and windows rattled in their frames. Bodycote's body was never found, reported as being "shattered to fragments", but his horse survived with minor injuries despite being thrown high into the air by the blast. A report on the explosion was presented to the Home Secretary who declined to order any further investigation. A new road near to the site of the colliery was named Frank Bodycote Way in 1999.

## Colliery site today

In 2018 a memorial lectern was erected on Common Road near where the colliery stood noting that the footpaths there were used by workers of the colliery as well as the T.G. Green and Mason Cash potteries to travel to their nearby workplaces. Part of the Granville No.1 Colliery site has been redeveloped as a dry ski slope and toboggan run. The site of the No.2 Colliery is now home to light industrial units.