Abbey House Museum 2025
Yorkshire
Silkstone Waggonway 2025
The route of a horse-drawn railway, built in 1809 by the Barnsley Canal Navigation Company. Transported coal from collieries in the Silkstone Valley to Barnby Basin, Cawthorne, the terminus of the canal. In 1830 Robert C Clarke of Noblethorpe Hall built an extension up to Silkstone Common and down to his new colliery developments at Moorend.
Contacts
Address: Silkstone and Silkstone Common Nr Barnsley Yorkshire S75 4RS
- Website: View website
Open Days & Times
Access at all times. Visit website for more details.
Travel
- By Rail: Silkstone Common / 1 mile
Coal had been mined in the Silkstone area for hundreds of years but this land-locked coalfield had to wait until the coming of the canal and railways to be fully exploited.
A walk follows the Silkstone Waggonway, which was made to take the coal from small countyside mines to canals into towns and cities. Coal from the famous ‘Silkstone seam’ – named after the village where deposits were found near the surface – was valued for its quality. Wealthy landowners started a ‘black gold’ rush and poor workers migrated from across the country to toil in the mines.
A useful link for more information:
http://www.visitpenistone.co.uk/walks/silkstone_waggonway.html
