Location Gresford SJ338536

 

History

 

Sinking

The North Wales coalfield, of which Gresford was part, runs from Point of Ayr, on the Flintshire coast, down to the Shropshire border. Although coal mining records date back to the 15th Century, it was not industrially exploited until the 18th Century. By 1900, over 12,500 North Wales miners produced three million tonnes a year.

 

Industrialist Henry Dennis of Ruabon, and his son Henry Dyke Dennis, began a coal mine near Gresford in 1907.The site was located on the edge of the Alyn Valley, between the Shrewsbury and Chester Railway (later the GWR Birkenhead to London Paddington line), and the old main road between Wrexham and Chester.

The Dennis' company United Westminster & Wrexham Collieries took four years to sink two mile-deep shafts, the Dennis (downcast) and the Martin (upcast), located 50 yards (46 m) apart.The mine was one of the deepest in the Denbighshire coalfield, with the Dennis shaft reaching a depth of about 2,264 feet (690 m) and the Martin shaft about 2,252 feet (686 m).

 

Operations

The first coal was produced from June, 1911, with full production reached before the outbreak of World War I.

There were three seams worked: the Crank, Brassey (named after engineer Thomas Brassey), and Main. House coal was produced from the Crank seam, the Brassey seam was virtually gas free whilst the Main seam was very gaseous. Working conditions at the colliery were dusty, and very warm often at over 90 °F (32 °C).

 

The Dennis section was divided into six "districts": the 20's, 61's, 109's, 14's and 29's districts, along with a very deep district known as "95's and 24's".All these districts were worked by the longwall system. 20's and 61's, which were furthest from the shaft, were still worked by hand, while the remaining districts were mechanised.

 

The coal was renowned in the area as being of very good quality and hot burning. In 1934, 2,200 coal miners were employed at the colliery, with 1,850 working underground and 350 on the surface.

 

Strike, mechanisation and profitability

In December 1911, the Government passed the Coal Mines Act 42. The law stated that every new colliery be built with:

• Two intake airways into each shaft, to allow more air to flow into the mine

• Stated only one air intake be allowed for the movement of coal

 

As the Gresford Colliery was in operation before the law came into force, it was exempt. Retro digging a new shaft made little commercial sense, and not much profit had ever came out of the pit, so the Dennis's didn't undertake the required work.

 

After the General Strike, in which the miners were defeated, they were desperate to work and the mine owners were sat with large losses on collieries which were costing more to run. Cost-cutting measures were introduced at all mines, including in safety provision. In combination alone, these measures meant that five local collieries - Westminster, Wrexham & Acton, Vauxhall and Gatewen - shut in quick succession during the 1920s and 1930s. Mechanisation, believed by the workers and unions to improve working conditions, created more dust and hence explosions, in an economic climate where the government were reluctant to enforce regulation.

 

By 1934, there were two main sections to Gresford Colliery, the Dennis and the South-east, which were both part mechanised. 2,200 miners worked in three shifts, with 24 hours split into three. Many miners worked double shifts to earn extra money; despite the fact that this was illegal, nobody stopped them. The Dennis family owned a residual 45% stake in the colliery, and wanting additional profitability put manager, William Bonsall, under pressure to increase the productivity of the whole colliery.

 

After the disaster, Gresford only made a profit in three years (1959, 1960, 1961) and the mine closed in 1974. One wheel from the headgear was removed and now forms part of the Gresford Disaster Memorial. Two others are at Bersham Colliery awaiting a decision on their future use. The site is now occupied by new factory developments. A memorial to the 266 men who lost their lives as a result of the disaster was unveiled by HRH the Prince of Wales in November 1982 and the names of the men are also recorded in Books of Remembrance which can be seen in Wrexham Public Library and Gresford Church.