Brockley Mine (Clearview), Coalgate, Selwyn District, Canterbury Region, New Zealandi

Regional Level Types
Brockley Mine (Clearview)	Mine
Coalgate	Town
Selwyn District	District
Canterbury Region	Region
New Zealand	Country

Old coal mine.

Located approximately 10 kilometres west south-west of Coalgate, north of a location called Glenroy, half-way between Brockley Hill to the north-east, and the Brockley Homestead to the south-west. A more recent small open cut can be seen into the side of the hill facing the Hororata River valley. Clearview is the more modern name, although little information could be found under this.

(Cox, 1882) states there is a coal seam 6 feet thick, striking north-east by south-west, with dykes and quartz porphyries.

(Star newspaper, 1897) a shareholder visit stated the tunnel passed dolerite rock to an anthracite coal seam 3 feet thick, with eight smaller seams of black coal further into the tunnel.

(Evans, 1898) states the main tunnel into the hillside first cuts 300 feet of dolerite, then fireclay 7 feet 10in thick heated into porcellanite by the dolerite intrusion, greystone (?)- a blue-grey stone 5 feet 7in thick, plumbago (?)- an anthracite shale 4 feet 6in thick, anthracite 2 feet 6in thick, brown coal 3 feet thick, 'measures' 12 feet thick, and finally brown coal 4 feet thick. Imprints of flattened stems and leaves are found in the units.

(Speight, 1928) states the tunnel had collapsed many years before. Despite this he describes the rock through the tunnel as initially a dolerite dyke, then altered sandy shale 18 feet thick converted to porcellanite with graphite next to the dyke, the main anthracite seam 4 feet thick striking north-east to east north-east and vertical dipping, slightly altered shales, then five more anthracite and altered coal seams dipping north at 30 degrees, then sandy clays, altered brown coal called the Brockley Seam at 3 feet 4in thick dipping north.

Brockley was named by W. Wilson. The first information about development was by McLatchie and McIntosh (surnames) of Manchester Street Christchurch in the 1880's. Mining was conducted in a haphazard manner, until the workings collapsed. Over a period of 2.5 years across the mid 1880's, they extracted around 8000 tonnes of coal. Various old workings from this remained east and west of the company tunnel later driven into the hill.

The Brockley Coal Mining Company as a co-operative was formed in 1893, however by 1896 it was in liquidation, blamed on the lack of a railway to the mine. A tramline delivered coal to the road, where it was loaded onto horse drawn carts, and taken to the railway station at Glentunnel. Deputations to government ministers and officials to beg for a side line to the mine went unheeded. S.C. Farr managed the company.

In 1896, a group of Christchurch businessmen met in a pork butcher's shop to form a new co-operative company to purchase the mine from the liquidators, and re-open it. This was the Brockley Co-Operative Coal Mining Company with 3000 pounds capital. Information was found on this company until 1899, then in 1902, one of the backers, William Woods is found in a bankruptcy hearing stating the lease is cancelled, and company wound up.

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