Hatfield Main Colliery

South Yorkshire once had a thriving mining industry, the rural Yorkshire landscape was transformed by coal. It wasn’t just the development of pits that made this transformation but the formation of communities and villages in which the pit was at the heart. Houses were built close to the colliery and communities worked and lived together. The closure of pits had a devastating impact on these communities, hard working men and women found themselves out of work, and villages fell into disrepair.

One of those pits which changed a community was Hatfield Main Colliery which is located in Stainforth South Yorkshire. The Colliery opened in 1916. On the 11th September 1916 the first shaft was completed followed by the second shaft which was completed on the 1st April 1917.

The pit had many owners over the years including a merge with Thorne Colliery. The miners strike of 1984 saw Hatfield at the centre of the dispute which was to become one of the most bitter and ferocious in living memory, splitting communities forever.

Hatfield Colliery closed for good in June 2015 a year before it was expected to close as there was no longer a market to sell coal.

The Colliery now stands derelict, the pit head buildings are still there, including the fan house which used to pump air half a mile down one shaft, along the underground roadways, across the face, back out and dispelling foul air up a second shaft. There are two winding engine houses which lowered and raised men and machinery to and from the pit bottom, although Doncaster council wanted to demolish the iconic head stocks. A successful campaign by Hatfield and Stainforth resident the head stocks are now grade II listed, protecting them from demolition. Development of the land to create a Heritage centre is being considered, this campaign is being run by Hatfield Main Colliery Heritage association. They want to turn the buildings into a gallery for paintings, drawings and poetry. The plans also include running the venture on solar power and creating a mining museum.