Chatterley Whitfield: Hesketh heapstead (6) and mine car circuit (24)

Heapstead (6) of 1915-17 by Norton-Harty Engineering which was altered in the mid-C20, and a tub hall (24) of circa 1952 for the National Coal Board.

MATERIALS: steel framed with infill panels of brick; the headstock is also steel. The roof to the heapstead is clad in metal sheeting, though sections are missing. The tub hall has a corrugated asbestos roof covering with patent glazed ridge (now removed) to the main hall and other double-depth parts and flat reinforced concrete slab roofs to the other sections. There are a number of roof ventilators.

PLAN: the building has an L-shaped plan comprising the heapstead at the northern end of the structure and the attached 1950s tub hall beyond.

EXTERIOR: the Hesketh heapstead is an elevated structure with a lower floor that is open throughout and has free-standing exposed stanchions and three upper storeys. The elevations all have an exposed steel frame which supports single-skin panels of brick, generally with continuous steel-framed windows to the upper floors. The main legs of the headstock, which are enveloped by the north end of the heapstead, are lattice box sections which are braced and tied by horizontal and inclined lattice members. To the upper part of the structure are steel-sheet metal plates. The 1950s tub hall is also elevated and is linked to the heapstead at first-floor level. Its northern section crosses the area of the former sidings and may incorporate remnants of the original early-C20 high-level tubway since the lattice girders which are visible to the lower part of the east elevation of both the tub hall and also the heapstead may be part of this earlier phase and are shown in situ in a photograph of the construction of the tub hall in circa 1952. The elevations of the tub hall all have an exposed steel frame which supports panels of brick, and metal-framed windows, though most of the glazing is missing. The ground floor is generally open with free-standing exposed stanchions, although part of the central section is fully enclosed in brick. At the south-west end of the building are the surviving remains of the elevated conveyor system which carried dirt and waste material from the tub hall to the spoil tip.

INTERIOR: not inspected (2013). The heapstead incorporates a complex arrangement of reinforced concrete platforms and ramps, partly supported or hung from the steel frame. The double-deck cage and its metal framework survive at the base of the headstock and there are narrow-gauge rails s to either side of the shaft. The tub hall includes the remains of an old blacksmith's shop to the ground floor, and has a reinforced concrete floor to the upper storey. There are two separate upper-level tub runs within the main hall, accommodating five tracks, and the return run has a single track. The building contained tippler and creeper railways which retain their rails. The roof has steel trusses and steel, portal-frame rafters.