Dilhorne - Coal Mining

Coal Mining

Historically,the largest Industry in Dilhorne for hundreds of years was Coal Mining. The Coal Mining Industry became the main source of employment in the 19th century as the small adit mines that followed the outcrops of Coal, progressively gave way to larger Mines,funded and owned in part by the local landowners who now became became coalmasters. In particular the Whitehurst and Bamford families who became co-owners of several mining concerns,the largest being the Dilhorne Colliery, a large mine which was known in the coalfield for its modern steam engines. Interestingly, the site of Dilhorne Colliery is occupied nowadays by a small farm known as "Old Engine Farm."