Sculpture at Aylesham: Payday at Snowdown Colliery

Image: © Marathon Taken: 13 Sep 2020

Snowdown was the deepest of the four main pits in the Kent Coalfield, reaching a depth of 3,083 feet - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Coalfield Work commenced in 1908, and coal was first brought to the surface on November 19th 1912. The first shaft sunk hit water at 260 feet and 22 men were drowned. The colliery was served by the Faversham to Dover railway, and a halt called Snowdown & Nonington was provided. The new town of Aylesham was built just to the north of the colliery to provide homes for the many migrant workers from Wales and the north-east of England. Building started in September 1926, just after the General Strike, the first stage comprising 400 houses, half built of traditional materials, while the other half were to be of concrete and steel. In 1945 the workforce was 1,876, with 1,523 being employed sub-surface and 353 above. The colliery closed in 1986 and the shafts were capped in 1988. A few ruinous buildings remain today - see http://www.eastkent.freeuk.com/mining/snowdown_colliery.htm At Aylesham can be seen this sculpture called ‘Payday at Snowdown Colliery’. It represents two children going with their father to the pit canteen in the school holidays for the traditional miner’s dinner of pit pasty, peas and mashed potatoes – see http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3413281 for the wording on the plaque in front of the sculpture.

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