Historic England research records

Historic England Research Records

Vobster Breach Colliery
Hob Uid: 200230
Location : Somerset Mendip Mells, Leigh-on-Mendip
Grid Ref : ST6975948919
Summary : The monument includes the ruins, earthworks and other remains of Vobster Breach colliery. The opening of the Newbury Railway in circa 1857 acted as a stimulus to local mine owners in the mid 19th century and led to the development of Vobster Breach or 'Vobster New Pit' during the early 1860s. Increased competition for existing markets and a downturn in the coking trade during the following decades led to economic difficulties at Vobster Breach, and mining had ceased by 1884. Most of the mine buildings are grouped around the shaft in the central part of the site. Although the headgear has been dismantled, four stone mounting blocks mark its position. One the coal had been raised to the surface it was conveyed to the screens for grading. There is no surface evidence to indicate the form of the screens, but their foundations are believed to survive as buried features. To the south of the shaft are the foundations of a structure which is thought to have contained workshops. To the west of the shaft are the ruins of the stone built winding engine house which is believed to have housed a single cylinder horizontal steam engine. The engine base is thought to survive as a buried feature within the building. A brick nuilt chimney stands beyond the north west corner of the winding house. The colliery spoil head occupies an area of approximately 0.65 hectares in the northern part of the site. In the south eastern part of the site are the standing and earthwork remains of two banks of coking ovens. The narrow guage tramway which connected Vobster Breach to the Newbury Railway approached the mine from the east. The trackbed of one of the tramways that served the coking ovens and pithead buildings is visible running east-west along the southern side of the spoil heap towards the pit head buildings. Scheduled.
More information : ST 698488: Breach colliery, Vobster. Two banks of beehive coke ovens survive at this C19 colliery site which also includes a tree-grown spoilheap, a stone chimney and other masonry fragments (1) (ST 6978 4887) Tip (dis) [NAT] (2) Scheduled. (3) The coke ovens comprise two banks, a single linear range and a double back-to-back range. The first bank consisting of 21 ovens has almost entirely collapsed, and survives as an earthwork feature. The double coke bank consists of 56 ovens in two rows of 28 ovens. Only twelve are relatively intact. The common form had a semicircular arched entrance with flue to the rear. The oven was entirely lined with refractory bricks, although these are truncated before reaching the floor on both sides and rear wall. The profile is wholly semicircular. The floor consists of edge-laid fire bricks broken by a centrally located sub-rectangular ashpit. Each oven is distinctly separated from those to each side by a brick and stone core sealed with lime mortar. The flues emerge at the rear through a brick-lined opening and are arranged in pairs. There is no evidence of byproduct recovery, nor of a central flue and chimney arrangement. The gases passed up the flues and into the atmosphere, and must have been unpleasant for those working in the vicinity. (4)

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Source Number : 1
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Source details : Day J. 1987. A Guide to the Industrial Heritage of Avon, 48
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Source Number : 2
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Source details : 1:10,000 1975
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Source Number : 3
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Source details : 14/03/1997
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Source Number : 4
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Source details : The Coal Industry, 1994, Somerset 4
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Monument Types:

Monument Period Name : Post Medieval
Display Date : Early 1860s to 1884
Monument End Date : 1884
Monument Start Date : 1860
Monument Type : Colliery, Mine Shaft, Coal Screen, Steam Engine, Winder House, Steam Engine House, Workshop, Spoil Heap, Leat, Coke Oven, Chimney, Winding Gear, Portal, Colliery Railway
Evidence : Subterranean Feature, Sub Surface Deposit, Ruined Building, Demolished Building, Earthwork, Structure

Components and Objects:

Related Records from other datasets:

External Cross Reference Source : Scheduled Monument Legacy (National No.)
External Cross Reference Number : 21659
External Cross Reference Notes :

External Cross Reference Source : National Monuments Record Number
External Cross Reference Number : ST 64 NE 29
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Related Warden Records :

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Historic England Research Records

Vobster Breach Colliery