Musée de la Mine Noeux-les-Mines

Useful Information

Location:	2 Av. Pierre Guillon, 62290 Nœux-les-Mines. (50.472504, 2.669821)
Open:	Summer Mon-Fri 9-11, 14-16:30. Reservation mandatory. [2023]
Fee:	Adults EUR 5, Children (6-11) EUR 2. Groups (10+): Adults EUR 4. [2023]
Classification:	Coal Mine Replica Underground Mine
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	L=200 m.
Guided tours:	D=1 h, Min=6, Max=40.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Musée de la Mine Noeux-les-Mines, 2 Av. Pierre Guillon, 62290 Nœux-les-Mines, Tel: +33-321-25-98-58, Tel: +33-617-91-52-03. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1850	beginning of coal mining.
1851	Fosse N°1 (pit No.1) Braquemont opened.
1865	Fosse N°3 (pit No. 3) opened.
1963	last mine closed.

Geology

Description

The Musée de la Mine Nœux-les-Mines (Nœux-les-Mines Mining Museum) is located at the former mine site at the foot of one of the typical slag heaps of the mining area which are called terril. It is actually just called Musée de la Mine (Mining Museum), but that name is generic, it's not possible to keep all the mining museums apart, so we concatenated the name of the town. Its unclear if the museum is still operating, like many others, it abandoned its website and the last review on tripadvisor is from 2018. Probably it was closed due to the pandemic. Please give feedback if you visit.

The village existed before the coal, but it had only 4000 inhabitants. In the 1840s coal was discovered, and starting in 1850, several mines were opened. After only 15 years, three pits were operating. As a result, houses were built in haste, and Polish and Italian workers came to the town. The mining stopped during World War I, the town was only 8 km from the front. It stopped again during World War II, and after a few years of good production after the war, the mines were closed during the 1960s due to the mining recession. The last mine closed in 1963. As a result there was no work, people moved away, the town planning did not fit the changed needs, and there was a large amount of industrial wasteland.

Visitors start with the exhibition on the local mining history, there is a 20-minute video on the formation of coal and its extraction, and finally the artificial mine is visited. There is also an exhibition room with mining tools, models, fossils, and documents about the life of the miners. It is one of numerous coal mining museums in the area and has a 200-m long underground mine replica with the typical machinery. This educational mine was originally used for educating 14-year-olds as miners.