OUR HERITAGE CENTRES
Dedicated to the historical and cultural stories of the individual collieries the local Heritage Centres are run entirely by volunteers and bring their fascinating collections to life through their engaging exhibitions and displays.
Aylesham Heritage Centre
Aylesham Heritage Centre is open to the public every Wednesday between 10am and 2pm. It is a well-used community resource, run wholly by volunteers, mostly ex-miners and people who have a mining connection in their family. The centre tells the story of the village since its green field birth in 1927 and of the colliery it was built to serve, Snowdown.
The Aylesham collection is centred on the people of the village. It includes a large collection of school photos dating from the early 30’s, and importantly school records from the same period.
Our Heritage Centre has exhaustively researched the men who died at Snowdown Colliery, and have constructed a memorial garden in their memory which can be seen at the Heritage Centre.
Our collection also includes a lot of Snowdown Colliery and sporting memorabilia reflecting the development of Aylesham as a vibrant community.
Elvington and Eythorne Heritage Centre
The Heritage Centre is in an upstairs room of Elvington Community Centre and opens on Tuesdays between 10am and 2pm. The centre concentrates on Tilmanstone Colliery and the villages that surrounded it; Elvington, Eythorne and Waldershare. Like Aylesham, it is wholly run by volunteers and is a thriving centre not only for ex miners, but the whole community.
There are many mining artefacts on display, and a lot more kept safely in store. The group prides itself on recording and maintaining their collection to a high standard as trained by the KMHF Community Curator. Their collection includes many original, maps, plans and documents. These include a 1958 No1 Seam Manpower Survey, a 1975 Time Book and a 1982 original listing of all the men who worked at the colliery. The group has a catalogue of over 6000 images available for visitors to view; a selection of these can be found on their website.
Highly active on Facebook the group focuses on the wider social and sporting history associated with Tilmanstone Colliery and is actively working on compiling a list of miners who came to Kent for work – The Migrating Miners. They have also recently completed an accurate study of all the fatalities at the colliery.
Heritage
Centre
LOCATIONS
AYLESHAM
Aylesham Heritage Centre
Dorman Avenue South
Aylesham
CT3 3AA
ELVINGTON & EYTHORNE
Elvington & Eythorne Heritage Centre
St John’s Road, Elvington
Dover
CT15 4DZ