Haig Colliery Mining Museum

Haig Colliery Mining Museum was a visitor attraction in Kells, on the site of Cumbria's last deep coal mine on the cliffs above Whitehaven in Cumbria, England. It closed in January 2016 due to insolvency.

1. History

The museum was an independent, volunteer-led project to provide a permanent archive of the local mining history and community resource within the remaining winding engine house, which became a scheduled monument in 1998. One of the two massive steam winding engines had been returned to working order, and many artifacts were on permanent display to help describe the life of the local miners and the social history of the area. Coal mining in Whitehaven dates back to the 13th century when the monks from St Bees Priory supervised the opening of coal mines at Arrowthwaite. This long history ended abruptly in March 1986, when Haig Colliery, Cumbria's last deep coal mine, finally closed. During this time, the gassy nature of the mines caused numerous violent explosions. Over 1700 men, women, and children were killed in the Whitehaven pits while mining coal, in tunnel workings up to four miles out beneath the sea bed in the Solway Firth. Haig itself had a terrible record of methane explosions in the 1920s. Fourteen miners are still entombed in the workings to this day.

1. = Building =

The mine was a large building that dominated the Kells Industrial Estate, with tall chimneys, working lifts and conveyor belts to transport the coal.

1. = Transportation of coal =

The footpath behind the building is called 'The Wagon Road' because in the 1800s, when the coal industry was at its peak in the North West of England, the coal wagons used to go down the wagon road to get to the train track to then transport the coal into the town centre where it would be distributed to the train or to the Whitehaven harbour, one of Britain's main ports at the time.

1. = Closure =

The museum closed for repairs in 2014, and after a 2.4 million refurbishment, reopened to the public in February 2015. Even though the museum attracted in excess of its anticipated 15,000 visitor numbers, financial problems meant that by January 2016 the museum had closed. Some of the buildings are being used by West Cumbria Mining as its main operating base whilst it test drills for coal off the Cumbrian coast.

1. References


1. External links

Haig Pit Mining and Colliery Museum The Cumbria Directory - Haig Colliery Mining Museum myWhitehaven.net

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Haig Colliery

Haig Colliery was a coal mine in Whitehaven, Cumbria, in north-west England. The mine was in operation for almost 70 years and produced high volatile strongly caking general purpose coal which was used in the local iron making industry, gas making and domestic fires. In later years, following closure of Workington Steelworks in 1980, it was used in electricity generation at Fiddler's Ferry. Situated on the coast, the underground workings of the mine spread westwards out under the Irish Sea and mining was undertaken at over 4 miles (6.4 km) out underneath the sea bed.

Industrial Landmark

Kells, Whitehaven

Kells is an area of Whitehaven in Cumbria, England, elevated on a cliff to the south of the town centre, overlooking the Irish Sea. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 2,437. Kells was built as a coal mining community. A cable railway, the Corkickle Brake, was opened in 1881 to connect the pits at the top of the steep incline to the railway line in Whitehaven town below. As the pits closed, the Corkickle Brake was abandoned in 1932. It was re-opened in 1955 to serve the Marchon chemical works (later a division of Albright and Wilson) in Kells. When the Brake was again closed in 1986, it was the last standard gauge cable railway operating in the UK. With the change from phosphate-based detergents, the Marchon works was the victim of a gradual winding down process and finally closed in 2006. Kells Amateur Rugby League Football Club was first formed in 1931, and played in the Cumberland League winning every trophy for a number of years. Kells left the Cumberland League in 2012 to start life in division 3 of the national conference and won division 3 and division 2 at the first attempt.

Industrial Neighbourhood

Preston Street railway station

Preston Street railway station (also known as Newtown) was a railway station in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England. Opened in July 1849 the station was the original terminus in Whitehaven of the Whitehaven & Furness Junction Railway (W&FJ). The station was situated approximately 1,000 yards (914 m) south of the Whitehaven Junction Railway's terminus at Bransty (the current Whitehaven station). It was not until 1852 that a connecting line between the Whitehaven & Furness Junction's mainline from the south and the Whitehaven Junction's line from the north was made; this line did not pass through Preston Street but instead the W&FJ opened a new station at Corkickle. A goods connection between the two termini did exist but involved reversing trains and using the numerous goods and colliery lines around Whitehaven harbour and on the streets of Whitehaven. In 1854 the two companies agreed to pool rolling stock and resources and concentrate all passenger traffic in Whitehaven at Bransty station and all goods traffic at Preston Street; this reorganisation started in December 1855 and was noted as complete in February 1856. This remained the situation until 1969 when with freight revenues declining Preston Street was closed. In 1972 the site reopened as a coal depot. By the mid-1990s coal production in the Whitehaven area had ceased and all the pits closed and what traffic there was in coal was transferred to road transport with the final closure of Preston Street.

Train

The Rum Story

The Rum Story is a visitor attraction in Whitehaven, Cumbria, England. It presents the story of the rum trade and the creation of rum. It is located in an original 1785 trading shop and warehouses. The Rum Story was started with United Kingdom National Lottery funding from the Millennium Commission and opened in May 2000. It was voted Cumbria Tourism's "Small Visitor Attraction" in 2007. The Jefferson family, wine merchants, imported wine and spirits for over two centuries until 1998. Their story is covered by The Rum Story. The first of this family to move to Whitehaven was Robert Jefferson (1704-1779). He became a master mariner working in the tobacco trade from Virginia to Whitehaven. At this time, Whitehaven was a major tobacco importer, capitalising on a position relatively protected from the sequence of wars with the French. In 1832, brothers Henry and Robert Jefferson provided a mortgage on two estates in Antigua that were owned by the heirs of Rear Admiral Sir William Ogilvy (the lead executor was his son, Sir John Ogilvy, 9th Baronet). These were York's Estate (which had 146 enslaved people) and the New Division Estate (309 enslaved people) In 2025, the museum announced plans to update its exhibits to highlight Whitehaven's "glossed over" ties to slavery, using money from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Whitehaven Harbour Commissioners, alongside the non-profit Anti-Racist Cumbria, announced they would work with historians to fact-check details. They noted that for years, the involvement of ports like Whitehaven in the slave trade had not been accurately represented. This meant that "intergenerational consequences, including trauma had been ignored". There had been "active avoidance or euphemism", with terms such as "shipping" or the "Virginia Trade" bring used to refer to slavery.

Historic Site Landmark