Harehills Colliery

grumpytramp · Post by **grumpytramp** » Sun 27 Jan, 2008 12:46 am

As a relative newbie to this site, and as a former mining engineer (who has thankfully managed to put his hole digging skills to productive use in the civil engineering industry) I have read many of the mining related threads with interest, particularly the recent 'Coal Mines of Leeds' thread ( http://www.secretleeds.com/forum/Messag ... readID=794 )Anyway this set my mind thinking about tales from youth of the existence of a working colliery in Harehills in the first quarter of the century!A check of the collieries inspected by HM Inspector of Mines in 1908 and 1918 reveals that Leeds Fireclay Co. Ltd operated a colliery in Harehills and judging by the labour employed a not insignificant undertaking:1908 102 employed below ground and 14 at the surface (manager TW Keillar who managed all their collieries in the area and colliery undermanger H Oliver)1918 71 employed below ground and 19 at the surface (manager F Taylor who managed the Gipton Pit and colliery undermanger remained H Oliver but was also at this time undermanger at Gipton Pit too)It appears by 1923 Harehills and Gipton are both abondoned.But where?Using oldmaps (whose website is designed to frustrate ..... www.old-maps.co.uk ) the 1894 1:10,560 (coords 432300,435000) shows a colliery to the east of Harehills Lane (about the approximate position of the outcrop of the Blackbed Coal) and in the vicinity of properties called Bleak House (mmmmm ...... that paints a picture!), White House farm and The Hare Hills ...... on the east side of the junction of Harehills Lane and Compton Road (Foundary Approach). By 1909 OS 1:10,560 sheet the same colliery seems not to be shown however there appears to be an extensive brickworks to the immediate east of Cowper Road, west of Harehills Lane, Comway Place to the south and Conway Road to the north.Anyone any ideas ..... is this the same colliery?

rikj · Post by **rikj** » Sun 27 Jan, 2008 11:11 am

You're right, oldmaps is a bit steam driven But it's free so I'm not complaining!Looking at the 1854 map there are a collection of pits around there. Lee Pit, Park Pit and Bywater(?) Pit. Also, I think three just named as Coal Pits.Do you think it's likely that Harehills Colliery referred to a collection of pits, rather than just one site? That was the case with places like Waterloo Colliery. Sometimes even the upcast or downcast shaft had a seperate pit name.Maybe by the late 1800s technology had improved to the point where a colliery could manage with just one shaft. The limiting factors earlier were ventilation and the economics of dragging the coal back to the pit shaft. It quickly became cheaper to sink another shaft further along the seam.From looking on google earth the sites of old pits are often just areas of grassland. Lee Pit looks like it could be on the patch of wasteland behind the site of the old Compton Arms. Park Pit would have been at the western end of Coldcotes Avenue.I'm gradually plotting all the old pits and shafts onto a google earth file, which I'll put up for people to download when it's a bit more complete.

Post by **chameleon** » Sun 27 Jan, 2008 12:14 pm

Grumpytramp - Brandy talks of the Gipton Pit in his message on 18 Jan in the other thread:http://www.secretleeds.co.uk/forum/Mess ... ghLight=1I replied on 19 Jan and had I believe, confirmed the position of the shafts in the area he suggested.There are a number of old shafts in the vicinity of the Compton Road/Harehills Lane junction -One between Broughton Terrace and Broughton Avenue,One at the eastern end of Compton View,Another under ( Parksider - found one!) a terrace house on Brown Hill Terrace opposite the old school.One more on the westernedge of Harehills Lane in front of the YW reservoir, and finally one in the road on Lupton Avenue next to Hill Crest House.Do any of these tie-in with your thoughts? My source is the Geological Survey of 1933 based on the OS 6" map of that time - a wonderful mine (no pun!) of information on these matters, you'd love them rikj, but I'm not sure there still easily available.

Post by **chameleon** » Sun 27 Jan, 2008 1:38 pm

rikj - just done a bit of searching. The IGS maps I have I bought when they lived in Crossgates in the 70's and they cost me 30 - 40p as I recall.The older ones are not obviously still available, they were last updted in 1999 I think - and I'll not be finding out - how they can justify 80 quid a sheet is beyond me - that is simply 'self financing' gone barmy!

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Sun 27 Jan, 2008 10:46 pm

If Godfrey had issued 203.15 then things would be a lot clearer - it's a hole in his Leeds repro mapping!!Land between Ashton Road and harehills Lane was never built on and I feel that this was a brickworks.As we half know, fireclay and coal could be mined together (and ironstone) so what may have started as a coal mine may have evolved into a fireclay/brick works in many cases.So I think years ago I'd have put Harehills Colliery in this area and today I think it has the Mosque built on it?Blue Hill Colliery is another site known as a brickworks and "quarry" by locals yet it probably started life as a coal mine.I guess in the 1700's at the start of the Ind. Rev. coal was important and equally important to get it cheaply i.e. locally.Eventually with railways and tramways the more important local commodity was the fireclay. Pure educated guessing!

The Parksider · Post by **The Parksider** » Sun 27 Jan, 2008 10:53 pm

chameleon wrote: I replied on 19 Jan and had I believe, confirmed the position of the shafts in the area he suggested.There are a number of old shafts in the vicinity of the Compton Road/Harehills Lane junction -One between Broughton Terrace and Broughton Avenue,One at the eastern end of Compton View,Another under ( Parksider - found one!) a terrace house on Brown Hill Terrace opposite the old school.One more on the westernedge of Harehills Lane in front of the YW reservoir, and finally one in the road on Lupton Avenue next to Hill Crest House.Do any of these tie-in with your thoughts?oughts? These shafts are possibly on the northern extension of Burmantofts colliery which as my previous post mined fireclay for the famous pottery there.If you can get back down harehills Lane towards roundhay road where it runs paralell with Ashton Road - any major sfahts there as per my previous post?

Post by **chameleon** » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 1:03 am

The Parksider wrote: chameleon wrote: I replied on 19 Jan and had I believe, confirmed the position of the shafts in the area he suggested.There are a number of old shafts in the vicinity of the Compton Road/Harehills Lane junction -One between Broughton Terrace and Broughton Avenue,One at the eastern end of Compton View,Another under ( Parksider - found one!) a terrace house on Brown Hill Terrace opposite the old school.One more on the westernedge of Harehills Lane in front of the YW reservoir, and finally one in the road on Lupton Avenue next to Hill Crest House.Do any of these tie-in with your thoughts?oughts? These shafts are possibly on the northern extension of Burmantofts colliery which as my previous post mined fireclay for the famous pottery there.If you can get back down harehills Lane towards roundhay road where it runs paralell with Ashton Road - any major sfahts there as per my previous post? Right on th very edge of map No2 - darn it, isn't hand sight a wonderful thing? if someone had thought to tell me to expect Secret Leeds then in 30 years time, I'd have bought more. Still If anyone had said we'll all have a puter or two - I'd probably have told them they were reading too much Asimov!Yes you're right. Opposite the houses between Back Chatsworth Road and Sandhurst Road.

wiggy · Post by **wiggy** » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 12:22 pm

chameleon wrote: The Parksider wrote: chameleon wrote: I replied on 19 Jan and had I believe, confirmed the position of the shafts in the area he suggested.There are a number of old shafts in the vicinity of the Compton Road/Harehills Lane junction -One between Broughton Terrace and Broughton Avenue,One at the eastern end of Compton View,Another under ( Parksider - found one!) a terrace house on Brown Hill Terrace opposite the old school.One more on the westernedge of Harehills Lane in front of the YW reservoir, and finally one in the road on Lupton Avenue next to Hill Crest House.Do any of these tie-in with your thoughts?oughts? These shafts are possibly on the northern extension of Burmantofts colliery which as my previous post mined fireclay for the famous pottery there.If you can get back down harehills Lane towards roundhay road where it runs paralell with Ashton Road - any major sfahts there as per my previous post? Right on th very edge of map No2 - darn it, isn't hand sight a wonderful thing? if someone had thought to tell me to expect Secret Leeds then in 30 years time, I'd have bought more. Still If anyone had said we'll all have a puter or two - I'd probably have told them they were reading too much Asimov!Yes you're right. Opposite the houses between Back Chatsworth Road and Sandhurst Road. asimov or wells,asimov or wells!

Post by **cnosni** » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 4:20 pm

My 1847 map has a pit under what looks like the Beckett Wing of Jimmys

Post by **chameleon** » Mon 28 Jan, 2008 5:40 pm

'asimov or wells,asimov or wells! 'wiggy, I'd be delighted to look for shafts or wells, as well ....Or well, you asked for that!