Elms colliery
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox mine
| name = Elms Colliery
| image = Old winding tower (geograph 2838105).jpg
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| caption = The old winding tower
| pushpin_map = Somerset
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| coordinates = {{coord|51.4316|N|2.7463|W|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| place = Nailsea
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| state/province = Somerset
| country = England
| products = Coal
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| opening year = {{Start date|1829}}
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| closing year = {{End date|1850}}s
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Elms Colliery (also known as Middle Engine Pit) is a disused coal mine in Nailsea within the English County of Somerset. It has been scheduled as an ancient monument{{National Heritage List for England |num=1004533 |desc=Elms Colliery|accessdate=5 April 2015}} and placed on the Heritage at Risk Register due to the risk of vandalism and further decay.{{cite web|title=Elms Colliery, Nailsea — North Somerset (UA) |url=http://risk.english-heritage.org.uk/register.aspx?id=49309&rt=1&pn=14&st=a&ind=1&ctype=all&crit= |website=Heritage at Risk |publisher=English Heritage |accessdate=21 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826120100/http://risk.english-heritage.org.uk/register.aspx?id=49309&rt=1&pn=14&st=a&ind=1&ctype=all&crit= |archivedate=26 August 2014 }}
Nailsea's early economy relied on coal mining, which began as early as the 16th century. The earliest recorded date for coal mining in Nailsea was 1507 when coal was being transported to light fires at Yatton.{{cite web|title=N&DLHS – Bottle Green & Coal Black|url=http://www.ndlhs.org.uk/item-coalblack.html|work=Nailsea and District Local History Society|accessdate=28 April 2011}} By the late 1700s the Golden Valley area of the town had a large number of pits run by a consortium by Peter Cox, Joseph Whitchurch and Isaac White which was formed in 1786 and known as White and Co. John Robert Lucas joined to obtain coal for the nearby Nailsea Glassworks. Remains of the old pits, most of which had closed down by the late 19th century as mining capital migrated to the richer seams of South Wales, are still visible around the town.
Three buildings survive from the Elms Colliery.{{cite web|title=Middle Engine Pit, Nailsea|url=http://www.aibt.org/middle-engine-pit.html|publisher=Avon Industrial Buildings Trust|accessdate=21 August 2014}}{{cite news|title=Heritage at Risk|url=http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/HERITAGE-RISK/story-11284877-detail/story.html|accessdate=21 August 2014|publisher=Bristol Post|date=11 July 2008|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140826115109/http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/HERITAGE-RISK/story-11284877-detail/story.html|archivedate=26 August 2014}} The engine house of the rotative beam engine and associated buildings, including the remains of a horse whim and weighbridge house are Grade II listed buildings.{{National Heritage List for England |num=1320976 |desc=Engine house and associated buildings from the Middle Engine Pit, about 15 metres south east of the Elms|accessdate=5 April 2015}}
The water tank above the engine house was used to supply water to Elms House after the mine closed.{{cite web|last1=Smith|first1=Terry|title=The Hydrology of Nailsea|url=http://www.nailseanature.org.uk/download/Hydrology-of-Nailsea-16.pdf|publisher=Nailsea Nature|accessdate=2 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140624081143/http://nailseanature.org.uk/download/Hydrology-of-Nailsea-16.pdf|archive-date=24 June 2014|url-status=dead}}