New Fancy
| New Fancy | |
|---|---|
Roll of Honour sculpture
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| Location | Parkend, Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire, UK |
| Coordinates | 51°47′00″N 2°32′28″W / 51.78335°N 2.5411°W |
| Operated by | Forestry Commission |
| Status | Open all year |
New Fancy was a colliery on the Forest of Dean Coalfield near Parkend in Gloucestershire, England. After the colliery closed its spoil heap was landscaped. The site has a picnic area, and viewing site from where goshawks can be seen. It is linked to the Forest of Dean Family Cycle Trail.
New Fancy colliery was opened by Edward Protheroe in 1827, as part of the Park End Coal Company in the Forest of Dean. By 1860 it was owned by Sully & Company and in 1885 was sold to the Parkend & New Fancy Collieries Company. It remained in operation until 1944. In 1880 the colliery produced 8,382 tons of coal. In 1900 the colliery site contained a wooden headframe, a Cornish-type engine house with an external egg-ended boiler built in the 1840s and a hand-operated windlass for raising and lowering items in the shaft. The winding gear was converted to electricity in 1916. Its site is a scheduled monument.
The top of the old coal mine spoil heap has been converted into a viewing site for birdwatchers, and gives panoramas over an extensive forested area. It is best known for viewing raptors, especially goshawks, best seen from late morning onwards in February and March. In February 1998, a female two-barred crossbill was present in a crossbill flock, drawing birdwatchers from across Britain.
The Roll of Honour sculpture was commissioned by the Forest of Dean Local History Society to honour those who worked and were killed or injured in the mines and quarries of the Forest of Dean. It was constructed by Graham Tyler and John Wakefield and was unveiled in 2005. It consists of three elements - stone, iron (represented by rusted steel), and coal (represented by carved and blackened local oak) - and stands around 11 feet (3.4 m) high. Stainless steel discs set into the sculpture represent the tokens carried by miners to determine who was below ground in the event of accidents.
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