Haig Colliery Mining Museum


Useful Information

Location: Follow signs from Whitehaven town centre.
Open: All year Tue, Thu-Sun 11-16.
Fee: Self guided/normal tour: Adults GBP 3.50, Children (5-15) GBP 2.20, senior citizens and students GBP 3.00.
Classification: MineCoal Mine
Light: LightIncandescent Electric Light System
Dimension: D=366 m.
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address: Haig Colliery Mining Museum, Solway Road, Kells, Whitehaven, Cumbria CA28 9BG, Tel: +44-1946-599949, Fax: +44-1946-61896. E-mail: contact
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

1914 first shaft sunk.
1922 39 miners killed in an accident.
1927 4 miners killed in an accident.
1928 13 miners killed in an accident.
1931 27 miners killed in an accident.
1939 one of the fastest man-riders, with a 350hp mechanism, was installed.
27-MAR-1986 colliery closed.
1999 opened as a Mining Museum.

Geology


Description

Haig Colliery was named after General, Sir Douglas Haig, Commander in Chief of the British Forces. It was the last deep mine to work in the Cumberland Coalfield. The shafts sunk between 1914 and 1918 by the Whitehaven Colliery Company Limited, were 366 m deep. Drivages extended out from the shafts under the Irish sea to access the Upper Metal Band coal seam. In 1980 the mine employed 938 men and produced 372,800 tonnes of coal. The colliery officially closed on the 27th March 1986.

Most of the site was demolished but the headgear and winding engine were saved and the site given listed building status in 1987. The Haig Colliery Restoration Group, consisting of totally independent volunteers, have taken freehold ownership of the site and propose to restore the building to its former glory, along with the two unique Bever Dorling steam winding engines. The ultimate aim of the project is to create a Heritage Centre depicting the coal mining history of Cumbria.


Text by Tony Oldham (2001). With kind permission.