Flockton Collieries

{{Short description|Coal mine in West Yorkshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Use British English|date=February 2023}} {{coord|53.632|-1.631|display=title|region:GB_scale:50000}} [[File:Railway viaduct, Midgley, Sitlington CP - geograph.org.uk - 282074.jpg|thumb|Old Flockton Colliery railway bridge]] The '''Flockton Collieries''' were small, shallow coal pits that exploited the coal seams north of the village of [[Flockton]] in the [[West Riding of Yorkshire]], England. The coal seams, the Flockton Thick, which was up to 48 inches, and the Flockton Thin at about 15 inches, were named from where they outcropped.<ref name= "OFC">{{citation|url=http://www.nmrs.org.uk/publications/pdf/BM19/BM19-97-122-flockton.pdf|title=Old Flockton Collieries, c.1772 to 1893|publisher=Northern Mine Research Society|last=Goodchild|first=John|accessdate=6 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421211839/http://www.nmrs.org.uk/publications/pdf/BM19/BM19-97-122-flockton.pdf|archive-date=2016-04-21|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In the 17th century, coal master, Richard Carter who died around 1700, made his fortune from the pits, some of which he used to build the village's first church, [[almshouse]]s and the school. The coal was sold locally until the [[River Calder, West Yorkshire|River Calder]] was made navigable above [[Wakefield]] after 1758.<ref name= "OFC"/>

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:Coal mines in West Yorkshire]] [[Category:Kirkburton]]