History

Bettisfield was the largest and most important colliery in the Bagillt area.  It was owned by the Bettisfield Colliery Co Ltd and sunk in 1872.  From the Inspector of Mines list 1896, there were 538 men employed including 100 surface workers, producing House and Steam coal.

 

The two Shafts were sunk to a depth of 290 yards.  One shaft was 17ft in diameter and the other was l0ft 6inches.  At that time, the colliery had a working area of 4,000 acres and the yearly output was reported as 150,000 tons. In 1897 a report on the reserves said that there were 100 million tons of unworked coal.

 

By 1908 it was in the hands of the Bagillt Coal Co Ltd. employing 641men.   Bettisfield Colliery Ltd. were again the owners by 1918 and at this time the total workforce numbered 450.  In 1923 a total workforce of 502 produced House and Steam coal from the One, Two and Three Yard seams and the Queen and Five feet seams.  Despite working out under the River Dee estuary water was never reported as a problem and only two small pumps were used, with 15” cylinders and a 10” stroke.  The colliery did not survive the depression and strikes of the 1920s & 1930s and closed in December 1933 with a loss of 415 jobs