Industry
The foundation of the Abbey in 829 was the key to Polesworth's growth, providing a focus for the local economy for the seven hundred years of its existence. Although the tenure of the Goodere and Nethersole families as Lords of the Manor had lessened the impact, the closure of the Abbey in 1539 must have been a terrible blow to the livelihood of those living in and around Polesworth. It was not until the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th Century that an economic replacement for the Abbey was found, thanks largely to the growth in coal mining in the area.
Coal had been mined on a small scale in Polesworth for hundreds of years, almost certainly as far back as the time of the Abbey itself and possibly further back still. Some of that early mining exploited shallow seams running close to the surface (such as one that ran under the Hall Court, which was mined well into the 19th Century). In other areas, the coal was actually visible at the surface and villagers could simply pick it off the ground.
By the latter half of the 17th Century, coal mining had become firmly established within the Parish of Polesworth. One entry in the Parish Register tells of the "Marriage of John Geatley of Polesworth, Coal Miner" on January 17, 1653. Another records the death of an Edward Atkins in May 18, 1688, who "was killed in a Coalpit, Dordon". Similarly, the churchyard at the Abbey Church holds the grave of Elizabeth Ward, who died in 1772. Her gravestone is engraved with a flare torch, a pick and a shovel.
The extension of the Coventry Canal through Polesworth in 1790 and the development of steam power encouraged a steady growth in coal production in the area. By the 1840s, coal mining and other industries were firmly established in the village (map 1).
In 1848, the first deep shaft was sunk at the Pooley Hall site. Two other collieries were also active in the village at this time. Whitehouse Colliery (also called "Gorby Knob Pit"), sited around a group of shafts between Polesworth and Dordon, was worked between 1855 and 1867. In Polesworth itself, Polesworth Colliery had a number of shafts in and around in the centre of the village. In addition to coal mining, there were numerous quarries and brickworks in operation.
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