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History of the company/bank and archive description for Centre Historique Minier de Lewarde

On December 1990, The Coal Boards for the Northern French and Pas-de-Calais basin shut down their last coal mine, thus closing the book on three centuries of history in the region.

For it was in 1682, at Hardinghem, in the Boulonnais area, that Francois-Joseph DESANDROUIN discoverd what was then called "earth coal". But operations in this area were still very basic.

The true history of the mining basin starts with Jacques DESANDROUIN, who - in 1716 - started exploration in the Valenciennes region, the location of the natural extension of the rich coal deposits which were already being exploited by then in Wallonia, a region which France had just lost in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. After twenty or so years of laborious drilling operations, on 24 June 1734, he discovered a major vein of rich coal of excellent quality.

During its history, this mining basin has moved from East to West, from the North towards the Pas-de-Calais, where coal was to be discovered once again in 1852, at Oignies. The basin was to extend from Valenciennes to Bruay, taking in the areas of Douai (North), Lens and Béthune (Pas-de-Calais) over a length of 120 km, but it was a narrow strip which was never wider than 12 km. Consequently, the mining basin covered approximately 1/12 of the total area of the region.

As we move from East to West, deposits are found deeper and deeper : whilst the Eastern shafts hardly go down further than 500 m, the deepest shafts in the Lens region were to be sunk to dephts of up to 1,200 m.

In total, two billion tons of coal were to be extracted from this mining basin, and the most intensive period of activity was 1930-1960, when 200,000 persons on average were employed in the extraction of approximately 30 million tons each year.

THE HISTORICAL MINING CENTRE

The Historical Mining Centre is located at Lewarde, 8 km to the East of Douai and in the centre of the ming basin. It is based around the DELLOYE pit-head, which comprises 7,000 sqm of industrial buildings and superstructures (pit-head frames and platforms over a site covering more than 8 hectares).

Between 1930 and 1971 approximately one thousand miners were employed at this mine, eight hundred of whom were employed underground; they produced an average of one thousand tons per day.

The Historical Mining Centre is an authentic site for conservation of mining history in the region, and was set up in 1982 by the Northern france and Pas-de-Calais Coal Boards, Local Municipal Authorities and the Ministry of Culture.

HISTORY OF THE DELLOYE PIT AND OF THE MINING HISTORY CENTRE

THE DELLOYE PIT

1 - The pit
Delloye is a pit belonging to the old-established "Compagnie des Mines d´Aniche". At the turn of the century, the Delloye deposit was exploited by the same Board as the VUILLEMIN pit.

• 1911: Shaft n° 1 was sunk to a depth of 270 metres, as a service shaft for the VUILLEMIN pit exploration.
• 1926: After discontinuation of work during the war, shaft n° 2 was sunk to a depth of 379 metres.
• 1928: Construction of surface buildings and head frames; the plant was connected to the Aniche railway network.
• 1930: On the surface: installation of the lamp-room and the "salle des pendus" ("hanging-room" - a wash-room and cloakroom where miners´ clothes were hoisted on individual cords to dry out); underground: the pit eye was installed 350 m below the surface.
• 1931: Extraction starts >18,634 tons in one year.
• 1963: Tonnage record >1,218 tons per day.
• 1971: Exploitation ceased >deposits were exhausted.

• 1933: Transfer of 300 workers (274 underground workers) from the SESSEVALLE pit; they either moved home or were transported by bus to each shift.
• 1936-1937: Transfer from DELLOYE to other pits: Azincourt, Barrois, Bonnel and Saint-René.

SUMMARY OF MAIN STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE CENTRE

• July 1982: Foundation of the Association de Centre Historique Minier (= Mining History Centre Association) with Government assistance (Ministry of Culture), from the Regional Council, the General Northern France Council and the H. B. N. P. C. (= Northern France and Pas-de-Calais Boards)
• 1984: C.H.M. (Mining History Centre) first opened to the public: >17,594 visitors
• 1985: Creation of exhibition: "Mining At the Turn of the Century", First historic industrial records received: > 33,256 visitors
• 1986: Construction of glazed exhibition building over machinery: > 41,073 visitors
• 1987: Installation of train and opening of 450 m of reconstructed tunnels, Creation of three temporary exhibitions: > 74,847 visitors, Mines and mining villages
• 1988: Creation of the first permanent exhibition, on the subject of geology: "Coal, a 345-million-year adventure": > 107,565 visitors
• 1989: Creation of the second permanent exhibition "Mining and Miners", Installation of a "descent experience": > 105,015 visitors
• 1990: Creation of permanent exhibition: "Short history of coal heating": > 100,369 visitors
• 1991: 500,000th visitor welcomed to the Centre, Creation of the exhibition "The time of the industrial struggle" with a reconstruction of an 1884 workers´ tap-room: > 115,791 visitors
• 1992: Inauguration of 1st Mining Exhibition: 113 works exhibited by 92 artists, Creation of permanent exhibition "Horses in Mining" in the context of the Delloye Pit stables and n° 1 shaft winding plant restoration programme , Creation of temporary exhibition "Filing documents: mining lamps", Temporary exhibition of "Recent acquisitions of the Museum": > 125,371 visitors
• 1993: Creation of permanent exhibition "A Fortnight´s Pay" with a reconstruction of the 1935 pit accounts office, Creation of travelling, temporary exhibition "Discovering Gold" > 167,920 visitors
• 1994: Inauguration of 2nd Mining Exhibition: 106 works exhibited by 96 artists, Arrival of millionth visitor, Creation of temporary exhibition "Le Mastaba d´Augustin Lesage - Poems by Lucien Suel", in the hoisting machinery building of shaft n° 1 of the Delloye pit , Temporary exhibition of "Recent museum acquisitions" in recognition of the museum´s donators > 149,066 visitors

Since 1995, as the pits and offices in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region have closed one after the other, the Historical Centre has recovered all their internal documents. Our archives currently consist of approximately 2,500 linear metres of documents, which give a glimpse of various aspects of coal mining in the area:

• The history and organisation of the mining companies, through the articles of association of private companies, and subsequently the nationalised coal boards, the introduction of mining concessions, successive organisation charts, minutes of board meetings, etc.
• The economic history, through accounts books, annual reports and business operations.
• The social history and the living conditions of the miners and their families can be glimpsed through books, magazines, publications by various associations, and posters. The development of workers´ rights, strikes, social activities and welfare can be traced back to their origins.
• The history of techniques and industrial plant used: technical notes and reports, sketches, etchings, photographs, films and post cards can all reveal vital information on the equipment used, the pit buildings, housing, or social and sporting facilities.

Exhibitions:

The exhibits (10,000 items) are not only machines and tools but also everyday objects which are displayed either in their original context (in tunnels) or in the range of seven theme displays.

• A fortnights´pay: This exhibition, which was opened at the same time as the reconstructed 1935 pit accounts office, using items from the time and original file documents, reconstructs the heady atmosphere of pay-day.
• Mining and miners: A general exhibition which displays, in seven themes, all of the aspects of mining culture from the employed operating technologies to the everyday life of a miner.
• Galibots and Cafus: Explains the "triage-criblage" in the fifties and children and women´s work conditions in the pit.
• The time of the industrial struggle: A social exhibition using a reconstruction of a 1884 worker´tap-room to depict the rise of the industrial struggle and the birth of trade unionism. A special feature of this display is that visitors can hear conversation in patois (local dialect).
• Short history of coal heating: Exhibition of a collection of furnaces and presentation of the development of the various techniques related to coal heating.
• Coal: a 345-million-year adventure: The visitor is plunged into the heart of pre-historic times, with a large number of mined fossils illustrating how coal is formed. This scientific exhibition is brought to life for school-children by an educational game for school groups.
• Horses in mining: An exhibition consisting of a reconstruction of the DELLOYE pit stables and providing the opportunity to increase one´s understanding of the importance of the work of horses in mining, reconstruction of winding plant and circulation of cages within n° 1 shaft.
• Glazed building for display of machinery: This enables display of large mining machines from sites other than the local mining basin.

THE MINING AND ENERGY ECIENCE EDUCATION CENTRE:

The Historical Mining Centre is also a Scientific and Technical Educational Centre which provides the following facilities for researchers (universities and students of all disciplines, including authors, script-writers, producers...):

• Two thousand shelf-metres of files of the former mining corporations and coal boards
• A library containing more than 5,000 works
• A film library containing approximately 1,000 films
• A photographic library holding more than 550,000 slides and negatives