Local Coal

The local area is riddled with old coal mines as the quality of Black Country Pennine coal and its relatively close proximity to the surface made it a much sought after resource especially at the start of the Industrial Revolution. The area around Gornal, Pensnett and Himley was especially busy with the production of coal and it is therefore little wonder why the area became known as the Black Country. There were many pit owners as can be seen from just some of the pits shown above, all interlinked with mineral railways linking the mines to the canals. Grove Pool was the feeder pond for the Brockmoor arm of the Stourbridge Canal and Fens Pool was the feeder pond for the Pensnett Canal which linked into the Birmingham Canal navigations at the southern entrance to the Dudley Tunnel. Himley Pits 13 & 15 have since been flooded to form Middle Pool of the three lakes of the Buckpool and Fens Pool Local Nature Reserve. The Stourbridge Extension Canal shown above no longer exists apart from a small section where it joined what’s now known as the Fens Branch at Brockmoor Junction. The route of the canal sits under what is now the Gibbons and Pensnett industrial estates. Although there were many pit owners, a large proportion were owned by the Earl of Dudley who had a number of the railways installed to help with the distribution of the coal. Other owners included the Gibbons family after which the Gibbons industrial estate is named. Gibbons & Sons Ltd were world renowned makers of firebricks and gas retorts. Sir Stephen Glynne along with Lord Lyttleton and William Gladstone owned Oak Farm Pit in Himley. William Gladstone became Prime Minister during this time, George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton was the son of William Lyttelton, 3rd Baron Lyttelton and Lady Sarah Spencer (The Lyttelton seat is Hagley Hall in Worcestershire.) and Sir Stephen Glynne who was married to Gladstone’s sister. Glynne’s home was Hawarden Castle in North Wales and the Crooked House in Gornal was named after him - The Glynne Arms.