Mostyn Colliery
Encyclopedia
Mostyn Colliery was a pioneering coal mine in Flintshire
, North Wales
, which was owned in the later part of its operating life by the influential Mostyn
family. The mine was located on the banks of the River Dee
.
wrote that the mines at Mostyn were established as far back as 1261, during the reign of Edward I
. Records show that in 1294, together with a stone quarry, the mine had a value of £
5 annually, and in 1423 were worth on their own £3 6s
8d.
In the early years, coal was removed from the colliery site by boats, which approached the quayside at high water. However, the changing river bed meant that a partial canal
was dug to ensure safe passage.
Records show that Thomas Cowper and Richard Mason
of London lease
d Mostyn Colliery in 1594.
Records suggest that by the 17th century Mostyn was possibly the largest colliery on the Western seaboard of Britain. It certainly seems to have been the most profitable in the North Wales Coalfield
.
for £70, beginning the colliery's association with what was to become one of North Wales' most influential families. He immediately began a programme of expansion, and by 1616 there were three pits on the site. By 1619 the colliery was worth in the region of £700 annually to the Mostyn family, which suggests a fairly substantial output.
In 1639 Roger Mostyn's successor, Sir Roger Mostyn ordered three further deep pits to be sunk. At around this time, it is noted that almost all coal which was shipped from Chester
was entered into the city records as 'Mostyn coal'.
It is known that there was a serious explosion
at the colliery in 1673. Sir Roger Mostyn gives an account of an explosion which occurred on 3 February 1675, which was caused by the presence of firedamp
. The explosion "flew to and fro over all the hollows of the work with a great wind and a continued fire, and, as it went, keeping a mighty great roaring noise on all sides". He goes on to describe how the blast was heard fifteen miles (24 km) away, destroyed the winding gear and felled trees. Mostyn also described how the men who were underground at the time of the blast were singed "as if they had been whipped with rods; some, that had least shelter, were carried fifteen or sixteen yards [by the blast] and beaten against the roof of the coal".
was opened at Mostyn, to produce iron using coal from the colliery, and the combined industries took the name 'Mostyn Coal and Iron Company', and were prosperous from the start.
In 1806, two explosions occurred, with the deaths of 36 men.
In April 1807 a fire occurred, which resulted in 26 deaths. Several families lost more than one member in this tragedy. Yet another explosion took place on 10 March 1809, this time causing the deaths of 22 men. Between them, the 1807 and 1809 explosions had caused the deaths of 50 men, creating 26 widows, and left 66 children fatherless.
The average price of coal was documented by Mr Robert Anderson, in his 1839 pamphlet
The Present State of the Coal Trade. He gave the average price per ton of Mostyn's 'Best Coals' as 8s 6d, with 'Second Coals' at a shilling less, thus showing Mostyn coal to be amongst the cheapest available in Britain.
By the 1840s, the approach to the quayside by boat had been improved, and was able to take vessels of 300 ton
s, moving between 50,000 and 60,000 tons of coal each year
Work started in 1843 on an embankment
, known locally as a 'cop', with the dual purpose of reclaiming land
from the River Dee, as well as being a flood defence. The project was funded by the colliery owner, the current Lord Mostyn
, and J. P. Eyton, and was known as the Bychan Embankment. The bank was 1974 yards (1,805 m) long—around 1.2 miles (1.9 km). The total cost was around £4,500 and about 70 acre
s were reclaimed.
What was, at the time, believed to be one of the largest steam engine
cylinders in the world was manufactured in November 1848 by Haigh Foundry
, in Wigan
, Lancashire
, for installation in a direct action pumping engine
at Mostyn Colliery. It was 17 feet (5.2 m) long, eight feet four inches diameter
, and weighed 22 ton
s. It was said to have used 30 tons of molten metal in its manufacture, and a sizable crowd of interested observers went to view the casting.
Mostyn is also notable in that in 1852, it became one of the first collieries to fit an experimental 'air pump'.
in 1847, it was only a matter of time before the coal and iron companies took advantage, with the railway passing literally within feet of the site. In 1855, sidings were constructed with access to both the colliery and the ironworks, although the colliery had had its own internal horsedrawn system since the early 18th century.
From 1872 until 1888 the Mostyn Coal & Iron Co, was owned by Joshua Lancaster.
in 1879, in no small part due to changes within the ironworks business, however the full circumstances may never be known, as much of the historical record has been lost. The lease to the colliery was sold as a going concern by the liquidator.
Disaster beset the colliery in 1884 when the river broke through and completely overwhelmed the pits. The event inspired a Welsh-language song. The colliery never re-opened, despite a takeover in 1887 by a Lancashire
company to form the Darwen and Mostyn Iron Company, thus ending over 620 years of coal production at Mostyn. However, by this time, serious explorations were under way at the nearby Point of Ayr
site, which would ultimately become one of the last deep coal mines in Wales when it closed in 1996.
Flintshire
Flintshire is a county in north-east Wales. It borders Denbighshire, Wrexham and the English county of Cheshire. It is named after the historic county of Flintshire, which had notably different borders...
, North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
, which was owned in the later part of its operating life by the influential Mostyn
Baron Mostyn
Baron Mostyn, of Mostyn in the County of Flint, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1831 for Sir Edward Lloyd, 2nd Baronet, who had earlier represented Flint Boroughs and Beaumaris in the House of Commons. His son, the second Baron, sat as a Member of Parliament for...
family. The mine was located on the banks of the River Dee
River Dee, Wales
The River Dee is a long river in the United Kingdom. It travels through Wales and England and also forms part of the border between the two countries....
.
Early history
The Welsh writer Thomas PennantThomas Pennant
Thomas Pennant was a Welsh naturalist and antiquary.The Pennants were a Welsh gentry family from the parish of Whitford, Flintshire, who had built up a modest estate at Bychton by the seventeenth century...
wrote that the mines at Mostyn were established as far back as 1261, during the reign of Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
. Records show that in 1294, together with a stone quarry, the mine had a value of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
5 annually, and in 1423 were worth on their own £3 6s
Shilling
The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...
8d.
In the early years, coal was removed from the colliery site by boats, which approached the quayside at high water. However, the changing river bed meant that a partial canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
was dug to ensure safe passage.
Records show that Thomas Cowper and Richard Mason
Richard Mason
Richard Mason may refer to:* Richard Mason , English author of The World of Suzie Wong* Richard Mason , English writer, the author of The Drowning People* Richard Mason Richard Mason may refer to:* Richard Mason (novelist 1919–1997), English author of The World of Suzie Wong* Richard Mason...
of London lease
Lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the lessee to pay the lessor for use of an asset. A rental agreement is a lease in which the asset is tangible property...
d Mostyn Colliery in 1594.
Records suggest that by the 17th century Mostyn was possibly the largest colliery on the Western seaboard of Britain. It certainly seems to have been the most profitable in the North Wales Coalfield
North Wales Coalfield
The North Wales Coalfield comprises the Flintshire Coalfield in the north and the Denbighshire Coalfield in the south. It extends from Point of Ayr in the north, through the Wrexham area to Oswestry in Shropshire in the south....
.
The Mostyn Family
In 1602 Cowper and Mason sold the remaining 13-year lease to Roger MostynRoger Mostyn
Sir Roger Mostyn was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1621 to 1622.Mostyn was the eldest surviving son of Sir Thomas Mostyn of Mostyn. His father was MP for Flintshire in 1577. He matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford on 8 May 1584 aged 16, and was admitted at...
for £70, beginning the colliery's association with what was to become one of North Wales' most influential families. He immediately began a programme of expansion, and by 1616 there were three pits on the site. By 1619 the colliery was worth in the region of £700 annually to the Mostyn family, which suggests a fairly substantial output.
In 1639 Roger Mostyn's successor, Sir Roger Mostyn ordered three further deep pits to be sunk. At around this time, it is noted that almost all coal which was shipped from Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
was entered into the city records as 'Mostyn coal'.
It is known that there was a serious explosion
Mining accident
A mining accident is an accident that occurs during the process of mining minerals.Thousands of miners die from mining accidents each year, especially in the processes of coal mining and hard rock mining...
at the colliery in 1673. Sir Roger Mostyn gives an account of an explosion which occurred on 3 February 1675, which was caused by the presence of 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...
. The explosion "flew to and fro over all the hollows of the work with a great wind and a continued fire, and, as it went, keeping a mighty great roaring noise on all sides". He goes on to describe how the blast was heard fifteen miles (24 km) away, destroyed the winding gear and felled trees. Mostyn also described how the men who were underground at the time of the blast were singed "as if they had been whipped with rods; some, that had least shelter, were carried fifteen or sixteen yards [by the blast] and beaten against the roof of the coal".
Mostyn Coal and Iron Company
In 1802, an IronworksIronworks
An ironworks or iron works is a building or site where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and/or steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e...
was opened at Mostyn, to produce iron using coal from the colliery, and the combined industries took the name 'Mostyn Coal and Iron Company', and were prosperous from the start.
In 1806, two explosions occurred, with the deaths of 36 men.
In April 1807 a fire occurred, which resulted in 26 deaths. Several families lost more than one member in this tragedy. Yet another explosion took place on 10 March 1809, this time causing the deaths of 22 men. Between them, the 1807 and 1809 explosions had caused the deaths of 50 men, creating 26 widows, and left 66 children fatherless.
The average price of coal was documented by Mr Robert Anderson, in his 1839 pamphlet
Pamphlet
A pamphlet is an unbound booklet . It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths , or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and saddle stapled at the crease to make a simple book...
The Present State of the Coal Trade. He gave the average price per ton of Mostyn's 'Best Coals' as 8s 6d, with 'Second Coals' at a shilling less, thus showing Mostyn coal to be amongst the cheapest available in Britain.
By the 1840s, the approach to the quayside by boat had been improved, and was able to take vessels of 300 ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s, moving between 50,000 and 60,000 tons of coal each year
Work started in 1843 on an embankment
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
, known locally as a 'cop', with the dual purpose of reclaiming land
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
from the River Dee, as well as being a flood defence. The project was funded by the colliery owner, the current Lord Mostyn
Edward Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn
Edward Mostyn Lloyd-Mostyn, 2nd Baron Mostyn , was a British peer and Member of Parliament .Mostyn was the son of Edward Lloyd, 1st Baron Mostyn...
, and J. P. Eyton, and was known as the Bychan Embankment. The bank was 1974 yards (1,805 m) long—around 1.2 miles (1.9 km). The total cost was around £4,500 and about 70 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...
s were reclaimed.
What was, at the time, believed to be one of the largest steam engine
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid.Steam engines are external combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as solar power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be...
cylinders in the world was manufactured in November 1848 by Haigh Foundry
Haigh Foundry
The Haigh Foundry was leased in 1835 by E.Evans and T.C.Ryley in Haigh, Lancashire. It had initially been established in the Douglas Valley, in Haigh, circa 1790 by Alexander Lindsay, 6th Earl of Balcarres and his brother Robert as an ironworks and foundry...
, in Wigan
Wigan
Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, for installation in a direct action pumping engine
Pump
A pump is a device used to move fluids, such as liquids, gases or slurries.A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. Pumps fall into three major groups: direct lift, displacement, and gravity pumps...
at Mostyn Colliery. It was 17 feet (5.2 m) long, eight feet four inches diameter
Diameter
In geometry, a diameter of a circle is any straight line segment that passes through the center of the circle and whose endpoints are on the circle. The diameters are the longest chords of the circle...
, and weighed 22 ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
s. It was said to have used 30 tons of molten metal in its manufacture, and a sizable crowd of interested observers went to view the casting.
Mostyn is also notable in that in 1852, it became one of the first collieries to fit an experimental 'air pump'.
Railway
With the opening of the Chester and Holyhead RailwayChester and Holyhead Railway
The Chester and Holyhead Railway was incorporated out of a proposal to link Holyhead, the traditional port for the Irish Mail, with London by way of the existing Chester and Crewe Railway, and what is now the West Coast Main Line...
in 1847, it was only a matter of time before the coal and iron companies took advantage, with the railway passing literally within feet of the site. In 1855, sidings were constructed with access to both the colliery and the ironworks, although the colliery had had its own internal horsedrawn system since the early 18th century.
From 1872 until 1888 the Mostyn Coal & Iron Co, was owned by Joshua Lancaster.
Closure
The Mostyn Coal and Iron Company went into liquidationLiquidation
In law, liquidation is the process by which a company is brought to an end, and the assets and property of the company redistributed. Liquidation is also sometimes referred to as winding-up or dissolution, although dissolution technically refers to the last stage of liquidation...
in 1879, in no small part due to changes within the ironworks business, however the full circumstances may never be known, as much of the historical record has been lost. The lease to the colliery was sold as a going concern by the liquidator.
Disaster beset the colliery in 1884 when the river broke through and completely overwhelmed the pits. The event inspired a Welsh-language song. The colliery never re-opened, despite a takeover in 1887 by a Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
company to form the Darwen and Mostyn Iron Company, thus ending over 620 years of coal production at Mostyn. However, by this time, serious explorations were under way at the nearby Point of Ayr
Point of Ayr
Point of Ayr is the northernmost point of mainland Wales. It is situated immediately to the north of Talacre in Flintshire, at the mouth of the Dee estuary. It is to the southwest of the Liverpool Bay area of the Irish Sea...
site, which would ultimately become one of the last deep coal mines in Wales when it closed in 1996.