Besucherbergwerk Stock und Scherenberger Erbstollen

Useful Information

Location:	Helsbergstraße 25, 45549 Sprockhövel. A43 exit 22 Sprockhövel, 234 towards Dellwig, in Leveringhausen left, at the end of Hiddinghausen left. (51.361327, 7.277009)
Open:	On open days, Sat 10:30, 11:30, 12:30. Dates are published on the website. Registration required. [2023]
Fee:	free, donation requested. Recommended: Adults EUR 10. [2023]
Classification:	Adit Coal Mine
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	L=2.4 km.
Guided tours:	L=800 m, Min=2, Max=6, MinAge=9.
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Bergbauaktiv Ruhr e.V., Albringhauser Str. 13, 45549 Sprockhövel. 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

1450	coal deposits discovered at Schever Busch.
1645	first occupation of the Stock and Scherenberg mines.
1746	start of adit construction.
1818	the Berechtsamen Leveringsbank and Oberleveringsbank collieries are reached.
1822	Caninchen and Nachtigall collieries are reached.
1823	the Gabe Gottes colliery is reached.
1824	Dreckbank Colliery is reached.
1826	Neuglück Colliery is reached.
1841	Schlebuscher Erbstollen is extended.
2013	adit made accessible again by mining enthusiasts.
16-NOV-2018	opened as a show mine.

Geology

The coal seams from the Upper Carboniferous are up to 320 million years old, from the Namurian which is locally called the Sprockhövel Formation. They are embedded in sandstone and claystone, and overthrust by several faults, in the show mine is the Pleßbach fault. Some coal seams are exposed in the adit. A special feature in the mine are clay ironstone geodes and some fossils. Stalactites of iron oxide have formed in some places.

Description

Besucherbergwerk Stock und Scherenberger Erbstollen (Show Mine Stock and Scherenberger Adit) shows an Erbstollen, a drainage gallery that was not driven for mining, but to allow the mine water to flow out of the mine on its own. This had the advantage that no pumps had to be operated. The gallery had to be driven from as low a point as possible in the surrounding area, slightly uphill to the mine. After several decades of construction, the tunnel reached the colliery after 2.4 km. The costs had risen drastically during this time, in 1744 4350 Reichstaler were estimated for the entire gallery, in 1770 the costs amounted to 30,000 Reichstaler. In return, it secured coal mining for several decades and still drains free of charge today. It enabled the mining of hard coal at a construction height of around 100 m.

After a good 40 years, it was replaced by the Schlebuscher Erbstollen, which was extended to this point to drain 65 m deeper. This reached its end point at Hövel shaft in 1865. With a length of 12 km, it was the longest mining gallery in the Ruhr mining industry.

The coal deposits at Schever Busch are said to have been discovered in 1450, making it the first known coal deposit in the Ruhr area. The Haupt Stock and Scherenberg colliery was started a few years later and is considered to be one of the oldest collieries in the Ruhr area. Around 1805 it was the most productive and richest colliery in the Mark! The colliery was closed around 1860.

The show mine is run by mining enthusiasts who open the show mine on certain Saturdays during the summer half-year. The guided tours have a maximum of 6 participants and are quite demanding, there is 10 cm of water throughout, the gallery is usually only 1.70 m high, and of course there is no light. Visitors should bring a helmet with headlamp, old clothes, rubber boots, and a change of clothes.