Headstocks To Brittain Colliery And Attached Machinery

The headstocks to Brittain Colliery and attached machinery, built around 1848, are a notable industrial structure located on Butterley Park Road in Ripley. The building is constructed of red brick with blue brick bands and is currently roofless. It stands three storeys tall, with a single bay and a circular plan. The ground floor is wider than the upper two storeys and features an advanced entrance on the south side, along with attached walls to the north. The second storey has small iron windows on the east and west sides, while the top storey is adorned with a brick cornice and a large pulley wheel on the south side, set within a long slot-like opening. This pulley wheel is connected to a pair of iron supports that extend at right angles to the tower, linking to the plinth that supports the gearing machinery. The Brittain colliery was established by the Butterley Company between 1845 and 1848 and was operational for over 50 years, as noted in F Nixon's "Industrial Archaeology of Derbyshire" from 1969.