Derelict Springfield/Old Mills Colliery
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Derelict Springfield/Old Mills Colliery by Martin Tester as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Derelict Springfield/Old Mills Colliery
Image: © Martin Tester Taken: 4 Sep 1968
Springfield Colliery, opened c1872 & was situated south of what is now the A362. Nearby, north of the A362, was Old Mills Colliery, opened c1860. Originally they were linked by a narrow gauge tramway but in October 1941 a connection underground was made. Although the Old Mills shaft was closed for coal winding the combined colliery was known as Old Mills. The buildings shown here are on the Springfield site. Closure came in 1966 leaving only the collieries at Kilmersdon & Writhlington (Image) in the Somerset coalfield. The site is now part of a Tesco superstore. 2 years before closure I made a memorable visit to the mine during an end-of-term school trip. I am grateful to Simon Carter of the Radstock Museum (http://radstockmuseum.co.uk/ ) for help in identifying this location.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.292321
Longitude
-2.500742