Ram Hill Colliery

Bristol Area Railway Map

Legend Cross Country Route Thornbury Branch Line Yate South Wales Main Line New Passage Pier Westerleigh Junction New Passage Halt Cross Hands Halt South Wales Main Line Pilning Severn Beach Coalpit Heath Crooks Marsh Winterbourne Bristol Parkway Grey line represents Patchway boundary of Bristol Ram Hill Colliery Avonmouth Docks Chittening Platform St Andrews Road Henbury Avonmouth (Royal Edward) Hallen Halt Avonmouth (BPRP) Charlton Halt North Filton Platform Avonmouth Docks Westerleigh Goods Depot Avonmouth Filton Junction Avonmouth Light Railway Filton Avonmouth Docks Filton Abbey Wood Shirehampton Horfield Sea Mills Ashley Hill Clifton Down Tunnel Mangotsfield (1845-1869) Clifton Down Mangotsfield (1869-1966) Redland Staple Hill Montpelier Fishponds Hotwells Halt Hotwells Stapleton Road Warmley Lawrence Hill Waste depot Oldland Common Bristol St Philips Temple Meads goods depot St Mary Redcliffe tunnel Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Temple Meads Bristol Harbour Railway St Philips Marsh T&RSMD Bedminster Parson Street Bristol Docks (North) Bristol Docks (South) West Depot East Depot Bitton Ashton Gate St Anne's Park Clifton Bridge Brislington Nightingale Valley Halt Long Ashton Ham Green Halt Avon Riverside Pill Keynsham Portbury Shipyard Whitchurch Halt Royal Portbury Dock Kelston Saltford Portbury Portishead (1954-1964) Mangotsfield Branch Line WC&PLR Great Western Main Line Portishead (1879-1954) Bristol & N. Somerset Rly. Portishead Pier Bristol to Exeter Line

Bristol and Gloucester Railway

Legend MR(Birmingham and Gloucester Railway to Birmingham) SWR(Gloucester to Newport Line to Newport) Gloucester(Interchange) M5 motorway Haresfield(1854-1965) GWR(Golden Valley Line to Swindon) Stonehouse (Bristol Road)(Interchange. Closed 1965) MR(Stonehouse and Nailsworth Railway to Nailsworth/Stroud) Frocester(Closed 1961) Cam and Dursley(Opened 1994) Coaley Junction(Interchange. 1856-1965) MR(Dursley and Midland Junction Railway to Dursley) M5 motorway Berkeley Road(Closed 1965) MR(Sharpness Branch Line to Sharpness) M5 motorway Charfield(Closed 1965) Wickwar(Closed 1965) Wickwar tunnel MR(Yate to Thornbury Branch Line to Thornbury) Yate(Interchange. Closed 1965, reopened 1989) Coalpit Heath Sidings GWR(South Wales Main Line to London) Ram Hill Colliery Westerleigh Goods Depot M4 motorway MR(Mangotsfield and Bath Branch Line to Bath) Mangotsfield(Interchange. 1845-1966) Staple Hill(1888-1966) Staple Hill Tunnel Bristol Parkway GWR(South Wales Main Line to Swansea) Goods line(To Avonmouth docks) Filton Abbey Wood GWR(Severn Beach Line to Severn Beach via Avonmouth) Fishponds(1866-1966) Avonside Locomotive Works River Frome M32 motorway Stapleton Road Lawrence Hill Waste Depot Goods Depots Bristol St Philips(Terminus. 1870-1953) Bristol Harbour River Avon(To Bath) GWR Temple Meads Goods Depot Bristol Temple Meads(Interchange) Bridge over Victoria Street Tunnel under St Mary Redcliffe churchyard Great Western Main Line to London Bristol Harbour Railway St Philips Marsh(TMD) River Avon(To the sea) GWR(Bristol and North Somerset Railway) GWR(Bristol and Exeter Railway to Taunton and Exeter)

Ram Hill Colliery, (grid reference ST679803) Ram Hill, Coalpit Heath, Bristol was sunk sometime between 1820 and 1830. It was owned by the Coalpit Heath Company, which included Sir John Smyth as a shareholder. Sir John was one of the main proponents of the Bristol & Gloucestershire Railway, (known locally as the Dramway), and that railway linked the pit (and others owned by the Coalpit Heath Co.) to Cuckolds Pill in Bristol. The railway was built in 1828 and was probably the last railway in England designed to use horses as a means of locomotion (the Rainhill Trials the following year heralded the use of steam).

Ram Hill was 558ft deep and was originally worked by a horse gin, the remains of which are still visible. In later years it was worked by a beam engine. The pit was linked underground to Churchleaze, New Engine and Rose Oak Pits forming the hub of 19th century coal mining in Westerleigh parish.

Abandonment plans show that the colliery, along with other Coalpit Heath pits at Churchleaze and New Engine, closed in the 1860s as the nearby Frog Lane colliery increased production.

In later years the area was purchased by the GWR for the construction of their direct route to South Wales via Badminton and, although their line passed through the area in a deep cutting, the works stopped short just to the north of the pit.

The site was rediscovered by local archaeologist and author John Cornwell in 1981 and has since been excavated, first by workers on a job creation scheme, and latterly by the ‘Friends of Ram Hill Colliery’ who cleared the area of flora and removed two spoil heaps which were formed during earlier excavations. Prior to its "rediscovery", people in the local area were well aware of its existence and the dramway or tramway had been documented in an earlier authoritative work on the subject, "Stone Blocks and Iron Rails: Tramroads by Bertram Baxter (Sep 1966)". In the late 1960s and early 1970s the characteristic stone sleeper blocks could be found in the RAM Hill and Serridge Farm areas through which the tramway ran and also at Syston Common where the earlier Bristol and Gloucestershire Railway (not to be confused with the later railways of similar name that ran from Temple Meads) branched off to a wharf on the river Avon nearer to the city than the wharf at Keynsham . Excavation of the the Ram Hill site exposed more of the dramway, including stone blocks with cast iron chairs in situ and the remains of a boiler house for a steam engine. Other remains at the site include the foundations of a horse gin and the uncapped shaft of the pit.

A geophysical survey, using restivity, at Ram Hill Colliery has revealed clear traces of a reservoir in the northern corner of the site.

In 2006 the Ram Hill Colliery site was designated by English Heritage as a Scheduled Ancient Monument, recognising the national importance of the site and protects it in the future. It is hoped to maintain a balance between archaeology and ecology by maintaining it as a grassed area. and a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund has been prepared.

Other Coal Mines

Site of Churchleaze No. 1 Pit (See Ram Hill)

For the nearby Ram Hill Engine Pit, Churchleaze No. 1 Pit and Churchleaze No. 2 Pit see Ram Hill.

Serridge Engine Pit, Orchard (or Middle Wimsey) Pit, No. 11 Pit and New Engine Pit were situated in the neighbouring hamlet of Henfield.

References

Walking the Dramway by Peter Lawson. The Bristol Coalfield by John Cornwell.