In January 1834 Messrs Hopwood, Starkey and Heron (and others) granted a lease of the coal mines under Chamber Hall and Yew Tree Estates, for a term of 50 years from December 1st 1834, to a partnership comprising Joseph Jones, William Jones, John Lees, Edward Brown, John Worthington, Roger Marsland, Joseph Marsland, John Ogden and William Booth. This partnership, trading under the title ‘Chamber Colliery Company’, worked Chamber Lane Colliery and the nearby Chamber Dam Colliery until 1884 when the Estate refused to renew the lease. That was a consequence of a series of disputes about areas of coal being left unworked, and other bad management.
A Valuation List for 1845 shows that four shafts, or pits, were being worked at Chamber.
- No.1 worked the Coney Mine
- No.2 worked the Black Mine (1.1 metre thick)
- Nos 3 & 4 worked the Little Mine
Later, the Lower Bent Mine was worked, at 175 metres deep, as was the Royley Mine, at 384 metres deep, and the Twos Mine, a little above the latter.
Following the estate’s refusal to renew the old company’s lease, Chamber colliery was worked by Hopwood, Heron & Others from 1885 until 1909. The company restructured itself as the Hopwood Colliery Ltd in 1910, which worked until the colliery closed in November 1928.
Sources:
- NMRS Records, Gazetteer of British Collieries
- National Archives: BT31/9196/107158 (1910) Hopwood Colliery Ltd
- Fanning, G. Oldham Coal (British Mining No.68, 2001)
