Big Pit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Big Pit is a coal mine which is preserved for visitors under the auspices of the National Museums and Galleries of Wales as the National Mining Museum of Wales. It is an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage. The museum is located close to the South Wales valley town of Blaenavon, which is a World Heritage Site.
The pit was first worked in 1860. It was so-called because of the immense dimensions of the shaft. In the late 1870s the shaft was deepened to 293 feet. By 1908, Big Pit provided employment for 1,122 people, but this number gradually decreased until by 1970 the workforce only numbered 494. It closed on February 2, 1980.
The mine reopened for visitors in 1983. Big Pit is adjacent to the preserved Pontypool and Blaenavon Railway.
As with all national museums in Wales, admittance is free. The site was redeveloped in 2003, with design work from TACP/Brooke Millar Partnership, Powell Dobson Partnership and Haley Sharpe, with Davis Langdon providing cost and project management services. In 2005, it won the prestigious Gulbenkian Prize.
No 'contraband' i.e. matches or lighters or articles with batteries such as electronic watches or cameras are allowed down the shaft. Visitors must surrender these for temporary safekeeping before they enter the cage.
[edit] External links
- Official website – National Mining Museum of Wales
- Wales Underground for background details
National Museum Wales: National Museum Cardiff • National History Museum • Big Pit • National Woollen Museum • Roman Legionary Museum • Welsh Slate Museum • National Waterfront Museum
Other museums: Bersham Ironworks • Brecknock Museum • Carmarthenshire County Museum • Cefn Coed Colliery Museum • Celtica • Ceredigion Museum • Chepstow Museum • Dylan Thomas Boathouse • Dylan Thomas Centre • Glynn Vivian Art Gallery • Kidwelly Industrial Museum • Llancaiach Fawr • Llandrindod Wells Museum • Llanidloes Museum • MOMA, Wales • Narrow Gauge Railway Museum • Newport Museum • Newtown Textile Museum • Parc Howard Museum • Pembrokeshire Motor Museum • Pendine Museum of Speed • Plantasia • Powysland Museum • Roman Legionary Museum • South Wales Miners Museum • Swansea Museum • Welch Regiment Museum
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