1. The History
Sainte-Henriette colliery located in Morlanwelz, Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium. Sainte-operated between 1850 to 1940 and the mine was owned by the company "Charbonnages de (Mariemont) Bascoup". After the mine closed the site laid derelict before the surrounding area has transformed into an industrial estate.
An old postcard of the colliery from back in the day:
The mines former 52-hectare site was taken over by a company called SOCOARC in 1972. Founded in 1947, they extracted the coal that remained in the former colliery’s extensive slag heaps, which reached the height of 212m in places, suppling the Monceau-sur-Sambre power plant until its closure in 2006. The company employs around ten people, who give a ‘second life’ to coal that came out of the ground over a century ago. SOCOARC have a licence to operate the site until 2028, after which plans will be put into action to rehabilitate the former mine’s extensive slag heap creating housing and the facilities to accommodate a number of small SMEs.
A few remnants from the colliery’s heyday remain to the present day, including the old coal preparation plant and the colliery’s administration offices. The later site, consisting of the original 19th century colliery offices and a 20th century extension, built circa 1950, at the rear was previously used for storage, but has been empty for some time. It has recently been put on the market with a guide price of €150,000, offering floorspace of around 2,300m² set on a plot of 18 acres.
2. The Explore
This was another heads-up from @Bikin Glynn (cheers mate!). En route from our first accommodation to our second place of stay in Mons, reccied it and saw that it was do-able so decided to return later on. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the know that there were also some old colliery buildings that were explorable near by on the live site owned by SOCOARC, otherwise I would have checked them out.
After getting over and in, started to explore the old three storey offices which allowed access to all of the floors, despite a bit of sketchiness in places. There was some lovely decay in here, and the odd old Chinese artifact. When I checked on the modern extension at the rear, more and more old pieces of Chinese furniture began to avail themselves, which someone had clearly been storing here then just abandoned there.
When it came to popping back out, a bus driver had parked right in front of the building, so decided that rather than startle him, I would go out the back and loop round, taking the scenic route.
Overall, not a mind-blowing explore but an interesting place, made more so by all the Chinese artifacts left behind.
3. The Pictures
Full frontal:
Nice brickwork:
In we go and this was the first thing I saw!
The sun slowly rises:
Love the old glazed white tiling in the washroom:
Some lovely retro-wallpaper:
Good old-fashion iron rad:
The first of many pieces of Chinese furniture:
Some lovely old chest-of-draws:
And another pair, in a little worser condition:
An up-side down one:
This one is in good nick:
Think I lost count at this point:
Not too sure what this is:
This teapot(?) has been in the wars a bit:
More cabinets!
More detritus:
Old door with its original glass:
Bit sketchy here!
Sainte-Henriette colliery located in Morlanwelz, Hainaut, Wallonia, Belgium. Sainte-operated between 1850 to 1940 and the mine was owned by the company "Charbonnages de (Mariemont) Bascoup". After the mine closed the site laid derelict before the surrounding area has transformed into an industrial estate.
An old postcard of the colliery from back in the day:
The mines former 52-hectare site was taken over by a company called SOCOARC in 1972. Founded in 1947, they extracted the coal that remained in the former colliery’s extensive slag heaps, which reached the height of 212m in places, suppling the Monceau-sur-Sambre power plant until its closure in 2006. The company employs around ten people, who give a ‘second life’ to coal that came out of the ground over a century ago. SOCOARC have a licence to operate the site until 2028, after which plans will be put into action to rehabilitate the former mine’s extensive slag heap creating housing and the facilities to accommodate a number of small SMEs.
A few remnants from the colliery’s heyday remain to the present day, including the old coal preparation plant and the colliery’s administration offices. The later site, consisting of the original 19th century colliery offices and a 20th century extension, built circa 1950, at the rear was previously used for storage, but has been empty for some time. It has recently been put on the market with a guide price of €150,000, offering floorspace of around 2,300m² set on a plot of 18 acres.
2. The Explore
This was another heads-up from @Bikin Glynn (cheers mate!). En route from our first accommodation to our second place of stay in Mons, reccied it and saw that it was do-able so decided to return later on. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the know that there were also some old colliery buildings that were explorable near by on the live site owned by SOCOARC, otherwise I would have checked them out.
After getting over and in, started to explore the old three storey offices which allowed access to all of the floors, despite a bit of sketchiness in places. There was some lovely decay in here, and the odd old Chinese artifact. When I checked on the modern extension at the rear, more and more old pieces of Chinese furniture began to avail themselves, which someone had clearly been storing here then just abandoned there.
When it came to popping back out, a bus driver had parked right in front of the building, so decided that rather than startle him, I would go out the back and loop round, taking the scenic route.
Overall, not a mind-blowing explore but an interesting place, made more so by all the Chinese artifacts left behind.
3. The Pictures
Full frontal:
Nice brickwork:
In we go and this was the first thing I saw!
The sun slowly rises:
Love the old glazed white tiling in the washroom:
Some lovely retro-wallpaper:
Good old-fashion iron rad:
The first of many pieces of Chinese furniture:
Some lovely old chest-of-draws:
And another pair, in a little worser condition:
An up-side down one:
This one is in good nick:
Think I lost count at this point:
Not too sure what this is:
This teapot(?) has been in the wars a bit:
More cabinets!
More detritus:
Old door with its original glass:
Bit sketchy here!
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