Rotherham Main Colliery

Former coal mine in South Yorkshire, England

Rotherham Main Colliery was situated in Canklow, about 0.5 miles south of Rotherham town centre in the Rother Valley. The area was the site of an ancient crossing of the river set below the crag on which were Canklow Woods, an ancient woodland area.

## History

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The first shaft was commenced in 1890 with the pit going into production in 1894. The owners of the colliery and later the coke ovens and by-products plant were Sheffield-based steel makers John Brown and Company who also built houses for their workers and a school for the children of the colliers.[1]

An accident occurred in 1891 when 8 miners fell 60 feet (18 m) from their wooden platform.[2]

The colliery had problems, the area was prone to flooding but prior to the First World War it employed around 2,000 miners. Following the General Strike in 1926 the colliery was virtually closed and needed just 300 employees to maintain it.

The colliery closed in 1954 and nowadays there are no signs of its existence, the last of what did remain being swept away under a road scheme which followed the Rother Valley linking the town's relief road to the M1 via Rother Way to Junction 33.

## The Railway Connection

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The colliery was linked to the main railway network by a branch line from the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway at a junction known as "Rotherham Main", situated about 0.75 miles (1.2 km) on the Sheffield side of Rotherham Central.

This branch line was also the subject of an agreement between the  Great Central Railway Company and steel makers Steel, Peech and Tozer giving access to the steel company's locomotives and wagons across the main line tracks and to tip furnace waste (slag etc.) on land adjacent to the line.

## References

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* Original agreement between the G.C.R. and Steel, Peech and Tozer, 1912.

1. ^ Mining Heritage, Rotherham
2. ^ About Canklow, Rotherham, South Yorkshire

## External links

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Rotherham Main Colliery Disaster, Canklow, 1891

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Coal mining in Yorkshire

Coal mines in North Yorkshire|

* Selby complex2 (Gascoigne Wood, North Selby, Riccall, Stillingfleet, Whitemoor Wistow)
* Tan Hill

Coal mines in South Yorkshire1|

* Aldwarke1
* Askern
* Barnburgh
* Barrow
* Bentley
* Brodsworth
* Brookhouse
* Bullcroft1
* Birley
* Cortonwood
* Dalton
* Dinnington
* Elsecar
* Fence
* Harry Crofts1
* Hatfield
* Hickleton
* High Hazels
* Huskar
* Kilnhurst
* Kiveton Park
* Maltby
* Manvers
* Markham Main
* New Stubbin
* North Staveley
* Nunnery1
* Orgreave
* Rossington
* Rother Vale
* Rotherham1
* Roundwood1
* Silverwood
* Smithies
* Thorne1
* Thurcroft
* Tinsley Park
* Treeton
* Waleswood
* Warren House
* Warren Vale
* Wath
* Wharncliffe Woodmoor
* Yorkshire Main

Coal mines in West Yorkshire|

* Caphouse
* Flockton
* Frickley
* Garforth Collieries (Isabella Pit, Sisters Pit, Trench Pit)
* Kellingley
* Killingbeck
* Middleton
* Shuttle Eye
* Prince of Wales
* Upton
* Waterloo Main
* Wheldale
* Woolley

Incidents|

* Allerton Bywater Colliery Explosion
* Cadeby Main pit disaster
* Lofthouse Colliery disaster
* Lundhill Colliery explosion
* Oaks explosion
* Peckfield Colliery disaster

Coalfields and seams|

* Coal seams of the South Yorkshire Coalfield
* Ingleton Coalfield
* South Yorkshire Coalfield

Industrial relations|

* UK miners' strike (1969)
* UK miners' strike (1972)
* UK miners' strike (1984–85)
* Battle of Orgreave
* South Yorkshire Miners' Association
* West Yorkshire Miners' Association
* Yorkshire Miners' Association

Other articles|

* Geology of Yorkshire
* List of collieries in Yorkshire (1984–2015)
* Monckton Coke Works
* National Coal Mining Museum for England
* British MPs sponsored by mining unions

Notes|

* 1: Pre 1974, most coal mines in South Yorkshire were actually in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Those annotated with a number 1, were closed before 1974.

2: The Selby Coalfield straddled the border of North and West Yorkshire

53°24′38″N 1°21′44″W﻿ / ﻿53.41056°N 1.36222°W﻿ / 53.41056; -1.36222
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