Centre Historique Minier de Lawarde, Lewarde

Delloye Pit

The Delloye or Joseph Delloye pit of the Compagnie des mines d'Aniche is a former colliery of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais mining basin, located in Lewarde. After thirteen years of closure, the site has become the Lewarde Mining Historical Center. The pit was started in 1911, at the same period as the Bernard, Lemay and Bonnel pits. The sinking of the Delloye pit was interrupted by the First World War. Work did not resume until 1921, and the pit was put into service in 1927, when it reached a depth of 360 meters. At that time, the Delloye No. 2 shaft was started a few decameters to the north, and began mining in 1932, one year after the Barrois pit, the last of the Aniche mines, was commissioned. The shafts ensure the ventilation, the service, and the extraction.

The Compagnie des mines d'Aniche was nationalized in 1946 and became part of the Douai Group. Relatively small housing estates were then built, as the Compagnie d'Aniche had not built any. The Vuillemin pit was concentrated on the Delloye pit in 1955, as well as Sébastopol, its ventilation shaft. Studies were carried out on the deposit, but it turned out that it was no longer profitable to mine, and the pit closed in 1971. At that date, the only pits still open are those belonging to the Gayant and Barrois concentrations for the Aniche concession, and No. 9 of the Escarpelle concession, as far as the Douai Group is concerned.

In 1973, the Houillères decided to create a mining museum under the impetus of Mr. Alexis Detruys, General Secretary of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais Basin, and the site of the Delloye pit was chosen. The historical mining center opened its doors in 1984. The Delloye pit constitutes with the Arenberg pit, the pit no 11 - 19 and the pit no 9 - 9 bis, one of the major sites of the memory of the mining basin. Other smaller pits have also been preserved: the No. 6 pit of the Lens mines, the No. 13 bis pit of the Lens mines, the No. 2 pit of the Flines mines, and the No. 2 pit of the Marles mines. At the beginning of the 21st century, Charbonnages de France materialized the heads of the Delloye No. 1 and No. 2 shafts, and installed firedamp outlets there. In addition to the pit, the base of the slag heaps Nos. 220 and 220A, and the housing estates, typical of the post-Nationalization era, also remain. In addition to presenting to the public all the installations of a 20th century pit, including reconstructed galleries, the Mining History Center also possesses 2,700 linear meters of archives, including 7,000 books, 550,000 photographic documents, 500 films, 350 videograms and 300 sound recordings. On September 21, 2009, the surface installations were classified as historical monuments. The Delloye pit was listed on June 30, 2012 as a Unesco World Heritage Site.