11. Old (Platt) Fan House

Fan houses provided ventilation to underground colliery workings. In Britain colliery fans were traditionally exhausting ventilators: stagnant air and gases being drawn out of the underground workings, and a ventilation shaft, known as an evaseé, reduced the speed of the air as it left the fan. The Platt fan house was constructed in the south-eastern part of the colliery circa 1930 to house a steam-driven fan. It is unclear whether it remained in operation following the construction of the Institute or Walker fan house immediately to the west c. 1958, but by the late-twentieth century the building was used mostly for storage. Listed: Grade II.