Barnburgh Main Colliery was a coal mine situated on the outskirts of the village of Barnburgh

Barnburgh

Barnburgh is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. The village is adjacent to the village of Harlington - the parish contains both villages, and according to the 2001 census it had a population of 1,979...

, about two miles north of Mexborough

Mexborough

Mexborough is a town in the metropolitan borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England, situated on the north bank of the River Don west of its confluence with the River Dearne...

 in the Dearne Valley

Dearne Valley

The Dearne Valley is an area of South Yorkshire along the River Dearne. It encompasses the towns of Wombwell, Wath-upon-Dearne, Swinton, Conisbrough and Mexborough, the large villages of Ardsley, Bolton on Dearne, Goldthorpe, Thurnscoe, Darfield, Stairfoot and Brampton Bierlow, and many other...

, South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of 1.29 million. It consists of four metropolitan boroughs: Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham, and City of Sheffield...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

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The sinking of the colliery was commenced in 1911 by the Manvers Main Colliery

Manvers Main Colliery

Manvers Main Colliery was a coal mine, sunk on land belonging to the Earl Manvers and was situated on the northern edge of the township of Wath-upon-Dearne, between that town and Mexborough, in the Dearne Valley, South Yorkshire, England...

 Company of Wath-upon-Dearne

Wath-upon-Dearne

Wath-upon-Dearne is a small town on the south side of the Dearne Valley in the historic county of the West Riding of Yorkshire and the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, lying 5 miles north of Rotherham, almost midway between Barnsley and Doncaster. It has a population...

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The sinking reached the Barnsley seam in 1914 and later the Parkgate seam was reached. The colliery was adjacent to the Dearne Valley Railway

Dearne Valley Railway

The Dearne Valley Railway was a railway line which ran through the valley of the River Dearne in South Yorkshire. It was incorporated by an Act of Parliament on 6 August 1897 to build a line between Brierley Junction, on the main line of the Hull and Barnsley Railway, to junctions with the Great...

 to which it was connected but in 1924 a private line was constructed between Barnburgh and the Manvers complex.

In 1947 Barnburgh was, as with other mines, nationalized, becoming part of the National Coal Board

National Coal Board

The National Coal Board was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the mines on "vesting day", 1 January 1947...

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On 26 June 1957 an explosion at the colliery caused the death of 6 underground workers. The explosion was caused by firedamp

Firedamp

Firedamp is a flammable gas found in coal mines. It is the name given to a number of flammable gases, especially methane. It is particularly commonly found in areas where the coal is bituminous...

ignited by a 'flash' from a damaged cable.

The colliery was closed on 16 June 1989.