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Wynnstay Colliery Walker Fan House is a post-medieval and modern industrial structure located in Wales, protected by Cadw under reference DE238. The building served as a ventilation fan house for the colliery operations, forming part of the underground mining infrastructure essential to coal extraction. Walker fan houses were purpose-built structures designed to regulate air flow through mineworkings, maintaining safe conditions for miners and facilitating efficient coal production.
The monument sits upon bedrock of the Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation and South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation, Moscovian in age. These geological strata comprise mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal seams, ironstone and ferricrete—the very mineral deposits that made coal mining viable in this region. The presence of multiple coal seams and associated strata beneath the site directly explains the location and function of the colliery operation.
As a surviving example of colliery ventilation infrastructure, the Walker Fan House documents the technological requirements of deep coal mining during the post-medieval and modern periods. Such structures represent the substantial engineering and construction effort needed to maintain productive mining operations, and their preservation aids understanding of Wales's industrial heritage and the region's historical dependence upon coalfield extraction.
Wynnstay Colliery Walker Fan House is a scheduled monument protected by Cadw under reference DE238. View the official record →
Wynnstay Colliery Walker Fan House is a post-medieval and modern industrial structure located in Wales, protected by Cadw under reference DE238.
Wynnstay Colliery Walker Fan House dates from the post medieval/modern period, and is classified as a fan house. It is one of over 32,000 scheduled monuments protected across the UK.
Wynnstay Colliery Walker Fan House is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Cadw — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Wales. The official designation reference is DE238.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including A 1.43km length of the Ellesmere Canal and associated features at Chirk Bank (6.2 km), Motte castle adjacent to Oaklands Hall, Chirk Bank (6.3 km), Roman military site at Rhyn Park (6.4 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 13 strands of Wynnstay Colliery Walker Fan House's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Wynnstay Colliery Walker Fan House stands on Pennine Middle Coal Measures Formation And South Wales Middle Coal Measures Formation (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Moscovian. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone, sandstone, coal, ironstone and ferricrete.