A HISTORY OF “EARLY” 19th CENTURY COAL MINING IN THE MANOR OF PEGGS GREEN

BY SAMUEL T STEWART – FEBRUARY 2020

CONTENTS

PART 1 - pg 3

Early 19th century coal mining in the Manor of Peggs Green

PART 2 - pg 8

Proposal for a horse drawn tramway link from Peggs Green Colliery to Railway

PART 3 - pg 9

Contour map for the areas covered in this feature

© Samuel T Stewart February 2020 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise without first seeking the written permission of the author.

2 PART 1

EARLY 19TH CENTURY COAL MINING IN THE MANOR OF PEGGS GREEN

EXTRACT FROM 1807 & PEGGS GREEN INCLOSURE MAP, ANNOTATED WITH CURRENT ROAD NAMES

3

EARLY 19TH CENTURY MAP DRAWN BY REV. FRANCIS MEREWETHER AND ANNOTATED TO PROVIDE CLARITY

The coal under the Manor of Peggs Green was worked by a small private company of several local residents in the early part of the 19th century, and they constructed a network of tram roads including those shown in the above map.

The Rev. Francis Merewether who drew the above map, which has been annotated by the author for clarity, was the incumbent at St. George’s Church Swannington at the time the map was drawn. His map can be found in “Records of Parish” by the Rev. F Merewether.

The horse drawn tramway is marked by the heavy red line coming from the mines (shafts marked by blue dots). Having passed through the weighbridge at A, it continued on to link up with the Coleorton Railway.

As the Rev. Francis Merewether became the incumbent at St. Mary’s Church, Coleorton in 1815 and commenced the building of the rectory there in 1816, it can be assumed that this map was drawn prior to that date.

4 The 1923 O/S map below has been annotated to add clarity to the following explanation:-

The mine shafts from which the tramways ran nearby were located at A & B. An embankment marked E and shown in the following photographs, was constructed to improve the field contours for the tramway to pass through to the Hinckley to Melbourne Turnpike road and link up with the Coleorton Railway, having passed through the weighbridge at D where today “Weighbridge Cottage” is still located.

The mine shaft marked A is located just below where the Senior School was built in 1915. The shaft to this mine is still in existence but has now been capped.

Horse drawn wagons would have been used to transport the coal to the Coleorton Railway at that time, although some braking may have been required as the first part of the journey would have been downhill.

The cross - hatching in the area marked C, shows where the road, now known as School Lane, was not joined up at that time, and this is shown on the Rev. Merewether’s map on page 4.

ANNOTATED 1923 O/S MAP

5

Photograph of the tramway embankment as it was in 2013. The tram rails have now gone of course, but the line of the embankment is highlighted by the white dots. A section in the middle had been taken out where marked A. The Griffydam Senior School building is in the distance marked B

The end of the tramway embankment when viewed from Clay Lane in 2017

6

EXTRACT FROM 1835 FIRST EDITION O/S MAP (TWO YEARS AFTER PEGGS GREEN COLLIERY OPENED)

This map has been added in order to make it clear that what is now School Lane hill, did not continue at that time up to the Melbourne to Hinckley extension known as Froggats Lane which ran from the Melbourne to Hinkley turnpike near Tugby’s Lane along what is now Nottingham Road as far as Rempstone Cross Roads to meet with the Ashby to Rempstone turnpike road, due to the escarpment in that area.

There is some evidence that a trackway would have been in use, but the author believes it would not have become a useable road until the end of the 19th century. Froggats Lane is shown on the 1807 Thringstone and Peggs Green inclosure map as continuing down what is now Storden Lane until it reached the Loughborough to Ashby turnpike road.

7 PART 2

PROPOSAL FOR A HORSE DRAWN TRAMWAY LINK FROM PEGGS GREEN COLLIERY TO THE COLEORTON RAILWAY

8 PART 3

CONTOUR MAP FOR THE AREAS COVERED IN THIS FEATURE

The above map, shows the contours of the land in the area of the tramways and Peggs Green Colliery. It is thought to have been drawn by Mr. Robert J Hartley

9