South Skelton Pit (or Van’s Pit as it was locally known – after the owner – Thomas Vaughan) is sited between Boosbeck and Margrove Park. A nicely compact pit, this image shows the winding shaft and engine house built over and onto the heapstead. The two strange dovecot-type structures in the centre foreground are horse-gins used for working the winding shaft when engineering work was required below. Not much remains today, the mine manager’s house, two overmen’s houses, the stables and the engine house are about all I can bring to mind. The shale heap at Margrove Ponds Nature Reserve was waste from the mine and the pond itself was caused by subsidence from the mine.
Image courtesy of the Pem Holliday Collection.
Recent Comments