Cortonwood colliery was sunk in 1873, a year after the formation of the Brampton Colliery Company, which took its name from the local parish of Brampton Bierlow, near Rotherham. By March 1875, two shafts had been dug to a depth of 285 yards (261 m) to work the Barnsley Seam which was at a depth of 218 yards (199 m). The shafts were two of the deepest in the South Yorkshire Coalfield at that time.[1] In 1908, the depths of the shafts were increased to 506 yards (463 m) to access the Parkgate Seam which was located at 481 yards (440 m) down.[2] From 1927 onwards, the Swallow Wood and Silkstone Seams were being mined and the Parkgate and Barnsley Seams were worked out. During the 1970s, Cortonwood was producing only coking coal for steel plants.[3] The Silkstone Seam which was first developed in 1927, was to become just a few years later, on 9 December 1932 the scene of a tragic explosion in which 4 men lost their lives immediately and 3 more died as a consequence of it later.[4]
In March 1984, when the price of coking coal had fallen dramatically,[5] the National Coal Board announced that the mine was due to close, due to the large stocks of coking coal that the colliery produced.[6] The proposed closure of Cortonwood became the "final straw" in a series of closures which brought about the long-running UK miners' strike (1984–1985).[7] The colliery officially closed on 25 October 1985 with full clearance of the stocks and buildings by the end of 1986.[6]
The Elsecar Heritage Railway were planning to extend to a proposed new railway station at Cortonwood in the future as finances allow[12] with certification from local councils and the Office of Road and Rail granting level crossing approved status being confirmed in February 2017. As of a result of the Covid 19 pandemic, plans were apruptly disrupted leaving the railway line unfinished of its plans. [13]
^Winterton, Jonathan; Winterton, Ruth (1989). Coal, crisis, and conflict : the 1984–85 miners' strike in Yorkshire (1 ed.). Manchester: Manchester University Press. pp. 66–67. ISBN0-7190-2548-6.
