Farrington Gurney

This post is part of a series called Somerset Coal Miners
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About This Location:

  • In 1786 a drift was being driven to cut as much coal as possible, a drift is an underground roadway driven down at an angle, unlike the more conventional vertical shaft.
  • There were only 4 or 5 men working in the pit because of the danger of flooding.
  • The mine was in a very poor state, in 1833/4 excessive rain flooded the pit and stopped work for three months.
  • In 1897 under the Beauchamp family the 9 feet diameter 566 yards vertical shaft was deepened to get to 15 inch and 21 inch coal seams which in later years mined considerably quantities.
  • Possibly the most significant single development was the construction of the connection from the pit head to the railway sidings at Old Mills Colliery laid in 1882.
  • At least 3 locomotives are known to be used at Farrington to take the wagons of coal to railway mainline.
  • One locomotive arrived around 1902, when it was new in 1877 it probably worked on the construction of Blagdon Reservoir in Somerset.
  • The pit finally closed October 1921.

    Church Field and Marsh Lane.

  • A group of 20 ex Farrington miners began driving two drifts in 1921 near Farrington Halt on the GWR North Somerset line called Church Field Colliery, a year later coal was being won.
  • Potential danger from flooding from near by workings caused the mine to close in 1923.
  • The miners immediately looked for a new site, work began on a pair of drifts at nearby Marsh Lane.
  • Coal being landed by 1927 the miners being the share holders in the colliery.
  • One moment of distinction came on July 7th 1934 when the then Prince of Wales visited the pit and went underground in a coal wagon.
  • The pit closed on November 4th 1949.

About Somerset Coal:

We believe that Somerset coal was first discovered by the Romans. They were in the West Country 43AD, and there are references to it being used at the Temple of Minerva in Aqua Sulis (Bath). The coal used was probably found in coal outcrops around Stratton-on-the-Fosse, and transported along the Roman road – the Fosseway – for use in Bath.

Early coal workings, from coal outcrops, were largely in the Nettlebridge Valley, around Stratton-on-the-Fosse and Coleford, and to the North of the Coalfield, around High Littleton. It is estimated that output in 1500 was estimated about 10,000 tons a year, and that this had increased 10-fold by the late 1600s…

For even more information and history of Somerset Coal, Click Here.