An area of coal, from six to eight inches thick, has been worked in the Grassington Grit on Dacre Pasture, to the north of Thornthwaite in Nidderdale. The same seam is present on the hillside above the eastern end of the dam for Thrushcross Reservoir, but there it appears not to have been worked. William Windle Carr, of Knaresborough, leased “all mines of coal, opened or to be opened” in the Forest of Knaresborough from the Duke of Devonshire in 1776. This would include Thornthwaite. Also, in the six years between November 1848 and November 1854, members of the Doggit family paid £2 per year in rent for the colliery at Thornthwaite.
Gill, M.C. “Great Dales Coalfield, Eastern Areas” British Mining No.86 (2008), pp.68-108
Return to previous page