Start of well drilling No. 1 1911 (≈ 1911)
Interrupted by World War I
1927
Implementation of well No. 1
Implementation of well No. 1 1927 (≈ 1927)
Depth reached: 360 meters
1932
Start of extraction of well #2
Start of extraction of well #2 1932 (≈ 1932)
Final depth: 380 meters
25 mars 1966
Mining disaster
Mining disaster 25 mars 1966 (≈ 1966)
Two miners killed as a result of collapse
15 juillet 1971
Closing of the Delloye pit
Closing of the Delloye pit 15 juillet 1971 (≈ 1971)
End of coal extraction
3 mai 1984
Opening of the Mining Historical Centre
Opening of the Mining Historical Centre 3 mai 1984 (≈ 1984)
Reconversion to Mining Museum
21 septembre 2009
Classification of historical monuments
Classification of historical monuments 21 septembre 2009 (≈ 2009)
Protection of buildings and horse riding
30 juin 2012
Registration at UNESCO
Registration at UNESCO 30 juin 2012 (≈ 2012)
World Heritage of the Mining Basin
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
The historic mining centre in total, comprising the following floors and buildings with all their technical devices in place: Recipe and extraction buildings and wells Nos. 1 and 2; compressor room; glass hall; fan room; screening; all the different bridges; former workshop (now exhibition rooms), reception building, administrative building and documentation centre; building comprising the offices of the administration, bathroom-douches, lamp factory, infirmary, bicycle garage and toilet; dynamitory; former sawmill (now restaurant); Building of the rocker; concierge house (cad. A 2420-2422): by order of 21 September 2010
Key figures
Alexis Detruys - Secretary General of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Basin
Initiator of museum project in 1973
Henri Guchez - Belgian architect
Responsible for site conversion
Origin and history
The Lewarde Historical Mining Centre is located at the Delloye pit site, a former coal mine in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais mining basin operated by the Compagnie des mines d'Aniche. Opened in 1911, its construction was interrupted by World War I and resumed in 1921. Well 1 entered service in 1927, followed by well 2 in 1932. These plants allowed the extraction of fatty and semi-gras coal until they were closed in 1971, after the depletion of the deposits.
The Delloye pit was chosen in 1973 to become a mining museum, led by Alexis Detruys, Secretary General of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Basin. The Mining Historical Centre opened in 1984, preserving the original buildings, horses and machines. Today it offers tours of reconstituted galleries, exhibitions on the evolution of mining techniques, and houses 2,700 linear metres of archives, including 550 000 photographic documents and 500 films.
Ranked a historic monument in 2009, the site was also listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012, along with 108 other sites in the mining basin. The 220 and 220A horsefields and nearby mining towns complete this industrial heritage. A mining disaster in 1966, causing the death of two miners, also marked its history.
The museum, labeled Musée de France, plays a major cultural role, welcoming temporary exhibitions, filming, and gathering of testimonies from former miners. Classified buildings include horse riding, compressor room, screening, and old infrastructure such as lamp factory or infirmary. The architect Henri Guchez supervised the conversion of the site in the 1980s.
The Delloye pit is part of a network of preserved mining sites alongside the Arenberg pits, No. 11-19, and No. 9-9 bis. Its conservation illustrates the transition from an industrial economy to a heritage of memory and tourism. The surrounding villages and towns, typical of the post-nationalization of 1946, also recall the social organization of minors.
The Mining Historical Centre remains a place of transmission, combining technical preservation and pedagogy, to perpetuate the memory of black Gules and their industrial heritage.
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Future
While the pit was promised to be demolished like the others, the Houillères du Bassin du Nord and the Pas-de-Calais decided to keep it in order to make it a museum of the mine. It opened in 1984.
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