In 1993 Chatterley Whitfield, the first mining museum in the United Kingdom to offer underground tours closed. In 1986 underground tours ceased and a new purpose built above ground Museum was created, which opened in 1987. The new museum was demolished in 2006 but in 2019 Urban Explorers found the extensive remains of the Museum. It was thought it had been lost..........

Chatterley Whitfield is an industrial time capsule and is widely acknowledged to be the most comprehensive surviving example of a deep mine site in England. It is Britain's biggest remaining colliery site, which has been designated by Historic England as an Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is considered to be the most comprehensive survival of a deep mine site in England from the industry's period of peak production, and one which retains clear evidence for its historical development and the technologies employed there. The area contains the greatest concentration of surviving buried archaeological remains of colliery buildings and features, a group of shafts and their heapsteads (buildings and works around a mine shaft) and a former railways sidings area. The significance of Chatterley Whitfield lies in its completeness which is unequalled in any other former or surviving coalfield site in the England. It was closed in 1977, and two years later re-opened as the first underground museum in the United Kingdom , but despite early success with 40,000 visitors a year, the museum declined and finally closed in 1993. Some artefacts were transferred to the National Mining Museum at Caphouse in Yorkshire but many items, such as medals donated by relatives of miners, were sold. In 1986 the original underground had to close due geological issues, but it was later replaced by Chatterley Whitfield's - New Pit. Chatterley Whitfield New Pit was a purpose built 'above ground' Museum that was built on the old sidings extending under the Platt Heapstead and the Walker Fan. The new Pit was opened by HRH Princess Ann in 1987........ The New Pit Underground Experience was very successful but in 1993 the museum was forced to close due to financial issues and in 1994 most of it's assets were auctioned off. In1996 the Chatterley Whitfield Mining Museum Trust went into liquidation. The site was abandoned and the majority of the buildings sealed, including the New Pit, but in 2006 there was an issue with the roof and it was demolished. In July 2019 Chatterley Whitfield Friends became aware of there being increased activity on the site by Urban Explorers who illegally enter sites and record their activities on camera or by video. The footage obtained being posted on Social Media. A number of Urban Explorers had somehow managed to get into the remains of the New Pit and record their visit. It was a fascinating insight into an area of the colliery which we as the 'Friends' thought had been demolished. We were wrong...... The Underground remains had a Face Shearer, Face Chocks, Heading Old Working and the orignial 1850' pit bottom. The whole of the New Pit beneath the Platt Heapstead and Walker Fan appeared to be in reasonably good condition. The underground Experience was an integral part of the previous Mining Experience museum – which now in itself is a very important part of the Heritage of Chatterley Whitfield’s life as a colliery. It is housed in the ground below the The Old Fan House (building 11), the Walker Fan House & Drift (building 27) and the Platt Headgear. The Underground Experience as it is today is basically a hidden gem waiting to be rediscovered. It can be utilised by the Chatterley Whitfield Friends to put the ‘Coal Mine’ back into Chatterley Whitfield again. It is a unique example of the working of a coal mine, without the need to travel deep underground to explore it. It is housed in the reinforced Concrete ventilation drift of the Walker Fan House with further underground roadway to the Old fan House and the Platt Shaft and Headgear.

At Chatterley Whitfield they have uncovered a part of the old museum that was last seen by members of the general public in August 1993, before the mine was closed and it's landlords, Stoke on Trent City Council took control of the site. It is a piece of history that could with a bit of imagination and money can be reopened. Members of the public will be able to see underground workings of a mine is a very safe environment without having to descend below ground. A unique experience. Chatterley Whitfield was once described as the Stonehenge of the coal industry - In effect, Chatterley Whitfield is a moth-balled monument in decay. A very special place, that must serve the present. It is already a cultural asset, and with imagination and drive it can be recycled to become an economic asset again, serving its communities, local, regional and national.