2-547-997 - Worldwide Photography/Heritage-Images

Construction of the reservoir, Manvers Main Colliery, Wath upon Dearne, South Yorkshire, November 1955. Manvers was sunk on land near Rotherham belonging to Earl Manvers in in the late 1800s and this was followed by the second shaft, sunk between 1900 and 1901. A third shaft was added later. Manvers was the regional headquarters for British Coal and the also housed laboratories. The site also included the Manvers coking plant which was at one time the largest industrial site in Europe. The coking works closed in 1981 with the colliery closure following a few years later on 25 March 1988.