The Colliery, situated alongside the main Dover to Canterbury railway line, was begun by Arthur Burr’s Foncage Syndicate in 1907, and the first sod was cut by Mrs Weston Plumptree. The first shaft at Snowdown hit water at 260 ft and flooded and 22 men were drowned.
There were few sinking problems after this and Snowdown became the first commercial pit in Kent, and the first coal was brought to the surface from a depth of 1370ft, on 19th November, 1912.
Snowdown was the deepest colliery in Kent reaching well over 3,000 ft (915 metres). It was also the hottest and most humid pit in Kent and was given the name 'Dante's Inferno' by the miners. Regarded by many as the worst pit to work at in Britain, most Snowdown miners worked naked because clothes became too uncomfortable. The miners could consume around 24 pints (14 lires) of water in an 8-hour shift. There were frequent cases of heat stroke.
The Coal Authority Signage.
Decay
Observation Monitoring Bore - to provide ventilation along the pits.
Rust
A window of Opportunity for the people of Aylesham & Snowdown
Shards of glass left on the windows represent the shattered lives of the 22 men drowned by the first shaft.
Appropriate to finish with the last rays of the sun shining through, after 8 hour shifts this would be at the forefront of the miners mind.