Snibston is an area and former
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
east of
Ravenstone, now in the parish of
Ravenstone with Snibstone
Ravenstone with Snibston is a civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,149, increasing to 2,212 (including Donington le Heath) at the 2011 census. The ...
, in the
North West Leicestershire
North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 census was 93,348. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville and Ibstock.
The dist ...
district, in the county of
Leicestershire
Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...
, England. Originally rural, part of Snibston was transformed into a coal mining village by the opening of
coal mines
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
by the Snibston Colliery Company in the early 1830s. This industrial part of Snibston was subsequently subsumed into the developing town of
Coalville
Coalville is an industrial town in the district of North West Leicestershire, Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England, with a population at the 2011 census of 34,575. It lies on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Tr ...
, though small rural areas of Snibston survive within the civil parishes of Ravenstone with Snibston and
Hugglescote and Donington le Heath
Hugglescote and Donington le Heath is a civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England. It includes the villages of Hugglescote and Donington le Heath, each of which is about south of the centre of Coalville. The population of the civil pa ...
. In the part of Snibston within the latter civil parish stands the 13th-century church of St Mary, noted as the smallest church still in use for regular worship in England. The main Snibston
Colliery
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...
was sunk in 1831, and after its closure the Snibston Country Park with the Snibston Discovery Museum (now closed) was built on part of the colliery site. Part of the park is
Snibston Grange Local Nature Reserve.
History of Snibston and Snibston Colliery
![Snibston Colliery - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Snibston_Colliery_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2691743.jpg)
The famous pioneering railway engineers
George Stephenson
George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was a British civil engineer and mechanical engineer. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victorians a great example of diligent application and thirst for ...
and his son
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...
came to the Snibston area in the late 1820s in their involvement with the
Leicester and Swannington Railway
The Leicester and Swannington Railway (L&SR) was one of England's first railways, built to bring coal from West Leicestershire collieries to Leicester, where there was great industrial demand for coal. The line opened in 1832, and included a tun ...
, which was being built to carry coal from this area to
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
. Quick to appreciate the potential, in 1831 they sank shafts to the coal on the north side of the railway near the centre of what is now Coalville. The choice of position for the mine was a little unfortunate since there were problems with water and hard rock, and the Stephensons were probably not entirely happy with what was to be named Snibston Colliery No. 1.
[Owen, Colin, 'The Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfield 1200-1900', 1984, Moorland Publishing, pp196-198]
Leonard Fosbrooke of Ravenstone Hall and Snibston Grange owned the Snibston estate. After his death in 1830 the estate, including an uncompleted colliery with a new
Boulton and Watt
Boulton & Watt was an early British engineering and manufacturing firm in the business of designing and making marine and stationary steam engines. Founded in the English West Midlands around Birmingham in 1775 as a partnership between the Engli ...
type steam engine and colliery equipment, was put up for sale. The estate was purchased by the Stephensons, and Snibston Colliery No. 2 was completed there, together with miners' cottages, with the help of finance from Liverpool merchants.
This is the present colliery, though much altered since, known simply as Snibston Colliery.
John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1872) described Snibston as a 'hamlet in
Packington
Packington is a village and civil parish in the district of North West Leicestershire.OS Explorer Map 245: The National Forest :(1:25 000) : It is situated close to the A42 road and the towns of Ashby de la Zouch and Measham. The population o ...
parish, Leicester; near the
Swannington railway, 4½ miles SE of
Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, sometimes spelt Ashby de la Zouch () and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire ...
. Pop., 595. Houses, 110. The manor belongs to
Lady Edith Hastings. Coal is extensively worked. There is a very old chapel of ease.'
The Snibston collieries were two of the three coal mines sunk in the 1820s and 1830s, along with Whitwick Colliery, that helped create the town of Coalville. The majority of Snibston is now just a district of Coalville but is distinguished by the buildings and headstocks of Snibston Colliery No. 2, and Snibston Country Park, within
The National Forest.
The Snibston Colliery Company opened Snibston Colliery No. 3 about half a mile to the north of Colliery No. 2 in 1850. It had a short life, closing in 1895.
On 24 March 1884 the parish was abolished and to form "Ravenstone with Snibstone".
In 1894, with the growth of the population centred on the area that had been given the name Coalville, Coalville Urban District was created and a new Coalville civil parish was formed from the whole of the urban parts of Ravenstone with Snibston and Swannington, part of Hugglescote and Donington and part of Whitwick.
[Baker, Denis, 'Coalville: The first seventy five years', Leicestershire Libraries and Information Services, 1983. p144]
Snibston Colliery No. 2 produced coal continuously from 1833 to 1983. Many of the historic mining buildings are now very rare survivals of this once-widespread industry
and have been designated as
scheduled ancient monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
s by the Government. When it finally closed in 1985, the site was bought by
Leicestershire County Council
Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a to ...
with the aim of preserving the most important buildings, turning the rest of the derelict site into a recreational area and building a major new museum of science and working life. The resulting Discovery Park opened in 1992.
Snibston Colliery's railway is one of the earliest built in Britain. It was constructed by
Robert Stephenson
Robert Stephenson Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS HFRSE FRSA Doctor of Civil Law, DCL (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railway ...
between 1833 and 1836 to connect the colliery with the
Leicester and Swannington Railway
The Leicester and Swannington Railway (L&SR) was one of England's first railways, built to bring coal from West Leicestershire collieries to Leicester, where there was great industrial demand for coal. The line opened in 1832, and included a tun ...
on the east side of Coalville.
[Official Snibston Website]
/ref> This railway was created to carry coal, not passengers. After Snibston Colliery closed in 1983 the railway line was partially dismantled and abandoned. However the section of line from the mine to the centre of Coalville was restored between 1998 and 2001.
Snibston Discovery Museum
Snibston Discovery Museum (now closed) was part of Snibston Discovery Park and was built on part of the site of the former Snibston Colliery No. 2. It consisted of an award-winning interactive museum, alongside the scheduled ancient monument colliery buildings, the Century Theatre, and a country park and nature reserve, located within the National Forest.
Snibston Discovery Museum was managed by Leicestershire County Council
Leicestershire County Council is the county council for the English non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire. It was originally formed in 1889 by the Local Government Act 1888. The county is divided into 52 electoral divisions, which return a to ...
and supported by Next
Next may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare
* ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage
* '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film
Lit ...
and The National Forest.
The museum featured interactive exhibits, colliery tour, a train, a fashion gallery and more. The museum focused on technology and design and how it affects everyday life.
After the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) was abolished in 2012, the museum was accredited by Arts Council England
Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...
and was Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
ed.
Image:SnibstonCarLifting.jpg, An interactive car-lifting exhibition at Snibston
Image:SnibstonPlayground.JPG, The mining-themed children's playground at Snibston
Image:SNIBSTONmine_tour.jpg, A mining tour at Snibston
Image:SNIBSTON_woodland.jpg, Woodland in Snibston's Country Park
Closure
In January 2015, the Conservative-controlled Leicestershire County Council announced that it could not afford the £900,000 per annum running costs of the museum and with declining visitor numbers it would be closed. Some of the land would be sold for housing, whilst the country park would be expanded and the Century Theatre would continue to function. A judicial review about whether the consultation over the closure followed the correct procedure was dismissed and the Discovery Museum closed on 31 July 2015. Demolition of the main hall commenced in March 2016, and had been completed by the end of April 2016.
The scheduled ancient monument buildings and headstocks of Snibston Colliery are not affected by the closure and demolition of the Discovery Museum except that the regular guided tours have now ceased. Snibston Country Park is also unaffected.
Century Theatre
The Century Theatre or 'the Blue Box' is a portable theatre, built on a series of ex-RAF
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
trailers in 1952. The theatre was designed by John Ridley who used an ingenious design; an aluminium superstructure and hydraulic ram
A hydraulic ram, or hydram, is a cyclic water pump powered by hydropower. It takes in water at one "hydraulic head" (pressure) and flow rate, and outputs water at a higher hydraulic head and lower flow rate. The device uses the water hammer ef ...
s, to create a professional quality theatre building that could be folded up and moved by road.
Following its opening night in Hinckley
Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughbor ...
in September 1952, the theatre toured Britain until 1974, remaining only a few weeks in each venue. From 1974 until 1997 the Century was used as the town theatre of Keswick in Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
, and then, thanks to support from the Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
, it was saved from the scrapyard, refurbished and brought home to Leicestershire, where it is located next to the buildings and headstocks of Snibston Colliery.
The theatre was run by its own company expressly created to take quality drama to communities throughout Britain and helped greatly with post-war cultural reconstruction. Many of the company's actors and technicians went on from touring with the Century to make important contributions to theatre in Britain and abroad.
In 1995 the Century Theatre became redundant following a Lottery grant to build a new theatre by Derwent Water in Keswick. In the following year it was acquired by Leicestershire Museums to be based permanently at Snibston Discovery Museum, Coalville just a few miles north of its original construction site in Hinckley.
The theatre was carefully dismantled in November with the help, knowledge and support of people who had been involved with the theatre over the years. It was brought home to Leicestershire on the back of four low-loaders and was renovated and reassembled on a purpose-built site between the museum gallery and the historic mine buildings of the former Snibston Colliery.
It re-opened in October 1997 and since then has been part of the cultural life of North West Leicestershire as a venue for a range of arts activities including classic drama, music and dance. A new 2-storey front of house was added in 2011 giving the venue an extra dimension and mezzanine lounge bar, toilet facilities and full disabled access.
Snibston Colliery Park
Snibston Colliery Park was opened in late 2020. Limited access to the Snibston Colliery site was restored, together with the opening of a footpath along the route of the former railway branch into the colliery, a new Colliery Cafe, a new car park, and a heritage trail. The park also includes the adjacent nature reserve.
In April 2022 the first guided tours of the colliery buildings for many years were inaugurated, hosted by Snibston Heritage Trust in collaboration with Leicestershire County Council.
References
External links
Century Theatre
{{authority control
Villages in Leicestershire
Tourist attractions in Leicestershire
Country parks in Leicestershire
Theatres in Leicestershire
Former civil parishes in Leicestershire