Malehurst Colliery was one of several mines working in the mid-18th
century on part of what was later called the Shrewsbury Coalfield. This
coalfield later supplied the neighbouring metalliferous mines with cheap fuel
for the pumping engines and smelting, thus avoiding the big fuel and transport costs
faced by mines elsewhere in the country. In 1775, there is mention of a
"fire engine" in the area which could have been an improved Newcomen
engine of the Heslop type. This seems to be the first recorded steam pumping
engine on a
In 1778, Scott & Jeffries took out a 50 year lease on land belonging
to the Boycott Estate north of Pontesbury and this included the Malehurst
Colliery and other mines. In the latter half of that year, they purchased a
27" engine from Boulton & Watt which was a larger copy of an earlier
22" engine built for Hull Waterworks. It was used for pumping and was
installed in the engine house shown at Figure 21. Although the exact location
of this engine is not known, local place names give some clues to possible
sites, eg names such as Old Engine and Big Engine appear on large scale OS
maps. An engine is also shown here on Baugh's map of 1808.
Coal from Malehurst Colliery was sent to Pontesbury to be used in John Lawrence's
smelt house and, when the colliery closed in 1795,
There are no surface remains apart from grassed over tips and collapsed
shafts.