Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Tilmanstone colliery. Work commenced at Tilmanstone Colliery in 1906. The first coal was raised from in March 1913 and over 20 million tons of coal were extracted from the pit during its 74 year working life

Monument Types

• COLLIERY (Modern - 1906 AD to 1986 AD)

Full description

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TR 289506. Tilmanstone Colliery started life in 1906 and is still in full operation (1978) [closed 1986] after overcoming considerable problems with water ingress when sinking the shafts to a depth of c.3000 ft '914m'. Two shafts with modern headgear are working but adjacent to the No 1 shaft is the original engine house which houses a mobile winder, used in emergency with the original headgear at the top of an early shaft which goes down to 1500 ft, 457m level. Three of the original workshops and the original offices are still in use. (1-2)

In 2017, A series of buried colliery structures dug into the natural chalk were exposed in the south-western face of the cutting for a new access roadway. (3)

<1> Ind Arch of SE Eng 1978 59 (A J Haselfoot) (OS Card Reference). SKE44246.

<2> Kent Underground Research Group, 1997, Kent Underground Research Group Newsletter no. 55 (Unpublished document). SKE25130.

<3> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2017, Former Tilmanstone Colliery tip, Watching Brief Report (Unpublished document). SKE53541.

Sources and further reading