Frickley Colliery, South Elmsall, West Yorkshire. Archaeological Assessment Report.

An archaeological assessment of the former Frickley Colliery, West Yorkshire, was carried out during June 2003 by Oxford Archaeology North (OA North) on behalf of English
Partnerships. The archaeological work was required to inform any future proposals for the redevelopment of the area (centred on NGR SE 464 097), and comprised a desk-based
assessment and a visual inspection survey of the site. The project was funded entirely by English Partnerships.
The assessment has identified evidence for considerable archaeological activity within the region dating back to the prehistoric period, although only remains of the medieval and later periods are known from existing documentary sources to be represented within the study area. Significantly, regression analysis of the available cartographic sources for the area has identified a probable medieval deer park to have occupied part of the study area.
This feature encompasses some 164 hectares and its identification raises some question as to the location of the associated manor house.
Since 1903, however, the study area has been dedicated to coal extraction at Frickley Colliery. Frickley was one of a number of collieries to have been established in the district during the early twentieth century, and became one of the largest producers in the region.
Nearly 3,000 men were employed at Frickley Colliery by the mid-twentieth century, as coal became the raison d’etre for settlements such as South Elmsall. A decline in the coal
trade during the 1980s, and the closure of the colliery in 1993, led to a period of bitter depression in the area.