Jane Pit
Where is it?
Jane pit is situated on the junction of Annie
Pit Lane and Mossbay Road, Workington.
GR: NX995278
Access is not restricted in any way.
What is it?
Jane Pit is a 19th century coal mine built by Henry
Curwen, lord of the manor in Workington (see
Workington Hall). It is situated adjacent to the
Sports Ground at Mossbay in Workington. It contains the best
surviving example of the ornate castellated style of colliery
architecture that was a feature of the large landowner involvement
in the Cumbrian coal industry during the nineteenth century. The
site is a scheduled ancient monument.
The monument still retains a gin circle and a
later steam engine house and therefore is a rare example of a coal
mine that demonstrates the evolution of a horse-powered winding to
steam power. The horse gin which provided an early means of raising
coal up the shaft survives as a circular earthwork immediately to
the south of the winding engine house. It originally had a
stone-lined interior and was the location for a gin arm or pole
powered by two horses that rotated a winding drum to raise coal up
the shaft. This method of winding was replaced in 1843 when the
owner, Henry Curwen, built the now roofless engine house to
accommodate a steam-powered beam winding engine.
Jane Pit operated until the mid-1870s. The mine
closed in 1875 when pumping was discontinued after the sea broke
into the mine entombing 100 miners.
Allerdale Borough Council
