Barnsley Main Colliery Pop-up Museum

We want to create a pop-up museum at Barnsley Main to help people understand the importance of the coal mining industry to the local area.

Barnsley Main Colliery is a rare survivor of South Yorkshire’s rich mining heritage. The buildings stand as a reminder of an industry that powered the Industrial Revolution and shaped the lives of communities.

The site of Barnsley Main was mined for over 170 years under different names until final closure in 1991. The remaining headgear and buildings were preserved as a memorial to the industry and are now Grade 2 Listed.

We came together as a group of volunteers in 2016 to bring the long neglected Barnsley Main Colliery site back in to community use. We have spent thousands of hours clearing back years of overgrowth and making the site a nice place to visit.

We are delighted to have worked with the Dearne Valley Landscape Partnership (supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund) and Barnsley Council on installing a new gate, improvement works and ongoing surveys of the buildings.

Now we want to share the history and story of Barnsley Main with the local community and visitors by creating a pop-up museum on the site. We will purchase, install and fit-out a shipping container and work with a museum professional to bring it to life as a pop-up museum. Having the museum onsite will allow us to welcome visitors and help them better understand why the site is so important.

We need your help to preserve the memory of Barnsley's mining heritage and make sure the next generation doesn't forget where we came from.