| AdminHistory | The New Hawne Colliery, Halesowen was established in April, 1864. The land was owned by Henry Marshall of Ward End and Richard Spooner of Brickfields who agreed to lease the mining rights to the coal and ironstone under the land to the New British Iron Co. The New British Iron Company was established in 1843, and was partly regulated by Act of Parliament. The company was based at South Sea House in London. Along with coal and ironstone rights, the company was given the right to quarry clay and make bricks, tiles and quarries within the area. On 23rd June, 1873, the company entered into a similar agreement for such deposits that lay under the fields of Hawne Bank Farm, owned by Shelah Garratt, coalmaster, Dudley.
In 1894 the British Iron Company fell into debt and part of its assets were sold to Shelah Garratt and Son, and Robert Fellows Ltd. In 1887 a liquidator was appointed to wind up the company, which ceased in 1912. The Colliery continued to be operated, surviving the 1921 Miners' Strike, but was finally forced to close by the General Strike of 1926. The pumps at the pit were left unmanned and the mines flooded. It was deemed uneconomical to drain the pits when the strike ended and the two shafts were filled in. |