Arenberg Pit
The Arenberg Pit, also known as Auguste d’Arenberg of the Compagnie des mines d’Anzin, is a former coal mine located in Wallers, in the Nord–Pas-de-Calais mining basin. Shafts Arenberg Nos. 1 and 2 were started in 1900 in the northeastern part of the commune, within an unexploited area of the Anzin concession. Shaft No. 1 served for extraction and Shaft No. 2 for ventilation. Coal extraction began in June 1903, and the site was named after Auguste Louis Albéric d’Arenberg, an administrator of the Compagnie d’Anzin. The mine soon became one of the company’s major production sites. Residential areas with schools, a domestic science school, a church, and a community hall were built nearby. In 1936, Shaft No. 1 received a new headframe, replacing the older structure, and the conical spoil tip No. 160, known as Arenberg, increased in size.
The Compagnie des mines d’Anzin was nationalized in 1946 and incorporated into the Valenciennes Group. The Arenberg Pit was designated as one of the principal concentration sites in the mining basin. To support this development, the double-compartment Shaft No. 3–4 was started in 1954 and equipped with modern facilities, including a washing plant built to the west of the site. The new shaft entered service on August 28, 1961, and waste materials were deposited on the flat spoil tip No. 171, Mare à Goriaux. The oil crisis extended the pit’s operation for several years. In 1980, exploitation of the conical spoil tip No. 160 began, and on January 9, 1984, a tunneling machine was commissioned to drive galleries and conduct tests in preparation for the Channel Tunnel project. Coal extraction ended in March 1989. The site’s installations were subsequently preserved, notably due to the filming of Germinal in 1992, which contributed to its protection and heritage recognition.
In the early 21st century, Charbonnages de France identified the locations of Shafts Nos. 1, 2, and 3–4 and installed firedamp outlets on the site. The community hall and the domestic science school were listed as in December 2009, and the Arenberg Pit itself was classified on February 22, 2010, following its complete renovation. On June 30, 2012, the Arenberg Pit, along with several associated sites—including the Bellaing pavilion housing estate, the Arenberg miners’ housing estate, the community hall, the domestic science school, Sainte-Barbe Church, the school, the mining relief society dispensary, the Nouveau Monde pavilion estate and its school, the modern housing estates of La Drève and Le Bosquet, the Bosquet estate school, the Mare à Goriaux and its flat spoil tip No. 171, as well as the pit’s railway branch—was on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Nord–Pas-de-Calais mining basin. In September 2015, the “Arenberg Creative Mine,” a film and audiovisual production center, was inaugurated on the site.
Pit
After the commissioning of the,,, and pits beginning in the 1880s, the Compagnie des mines d’Anzin decided to establish a new mining site in the northern, still unexploited part of its concession. The Arenberg Pit was subsequently opened in the commune of Wallers, on the opposite side of the territory from the.Sinking
Shafts Nos. 1 and 2 of the Arenberg Pit were sunk in 1900 using the cutting-shoe method. Shaft No. 1, with a diameter of five meters, was designated for extraction, while Shaft No. 2, located 60 meters to the northwest and measuring 3.65 meters in diameter, served for ventilation. The openings of both shafts were positioned at an altitude of 38 meters. Coal-bearing strata were encountered at depths of 130 meters in the first shaft and 134 meters in the second.The pit was named after Auguste Louis Albéric d’Arenberg, administrator of the Compagnie des mines d’Anzin.
Operation
Coal extraction at the Arenberg Pit began in June 1903. The site soon became one of the principal operations of the Compagnie des mines d’Anzin, producing 218,915 tons of coal in 1906, 302,000 tons in 1925, and 452,630 tons in 1930.In 1936, the facilities of Shaft No. 1 were modernized. A new headframe with superimposed pulleys replaced the original structure, and a new engine room was constructed at a right angle to the previous one. The updated extraction system employed a Koepe pulley mechanism.
Concentration site
The Compagnie des mines d’Anzin was nationalized in 1946 and integrated into the Valenciennes Group. At that time, coal extraction and operations were conducted through Shaft No. 1, while Shaft No. 2 was used for ventilation and service functions. Following nationalization, plans were made to develop the site into a major extraction facility, leading to the sinking of Shaft No. 3–4 in 1954. This new shaft, with a diameter of 6.50 meters and double compartments, reached an extraction level of 334 meters. It was equipped with a four-pulley portal headframe identical to that of of the Béthune Group. From August 28, 1961, extraction was carried out using four three-deck cages designed to transport 3,000-liter mine cars. The compartments, numbered 3 and 4, operated independently.Shaft No. 1 was subsequently repurposed as a service shaft for personnel and equipment, while Shaft No. 2 was used for backfilling, with calibrated shale lowered through a pipeline. Both Shafts Nos. 1 and 2 functioned as return-air shafts. A modern coal washing plant, capable of processing 3,000 tons of clean coal per day, was also commissioned in 1961, coinciding with the operation of Shaft No. 3–4.
The Arenberg site reached the highest production level in the Valenciennes Group, producing 3,000 tons of clean coal per day. In 1964, it employed 1,787 underground workers and 215 surface workers. In 1969, Shaft No. 1 was fitted with cable guidance and adapted for the movement of 3,000-liter mine cars, enabling shuttle transport between the 314- and 578-meter levels. It was subsequently used as a service shaft and ceased coal extraction to the surface.
On July 1, 1973, the Arenberg Pit was integrated into the Douai Production Unit. The 1975 energy crisis and the increase in oil prices led to a revision of the Coal Plan, which had initially planned the site’s closure for around 1979 or 1980. Shaft No. 3–4, connected at the 494-meter level for compartment No. 3 and originally measuring 4.12 meters in diameter down to the 578-meter level, was widened to 6.50 meters and deepened to 612 meters in October 1975. The first coal from a panel of the Melchior seam was extracted from this level on December 27, 1977. The washing plant was closed on July 1, 1975, after processing twenty million tons of raw coal from the Arenberg Pit, as well as from the and pits between 1968 and 1972.
In 1982, plans were made to deepen Shaft No. 3–4 to 670 meters in order to access an additional two million tons of coal reserves. A descending gallery with a 13% slope was excavated from the 578-meter level to the new depth, extending the shaft by 90 meters. For the first time in a French mine, the excavation work was carried out using a tunnel-boring machine. The TB 500 model, designed by the Bouygues company, was delivered in sections in September 1983 and began operating on January 9, 1984. Intended to excavate three kilometers of galleries to reach the deposit, the machine achieved an average rate of twelve meters per day by April, surpassing its initial target of ten. Compartments Nos. 3 and 4 were connected to the 670-meter level on August 2 and 3, 1986, and a scraper-chain coalface was established shortly afterward in the Robert 1er plat seam. The project also served as a technical test for future use of tunnel-boring machines in the Channel Tunnel.
On March 24, 1989, at 11 a.m., a ceremony attended by the press and regional officials marked the symbolic hoisting of the final mine carts. The last actual extraction took place a week later, on March 31, behind closed doors. This event marked the closure of the last operational shaft in the Valenciennes coalfield, which had produced a total of 31,845,000 tons of coal. All four shafts were backfilled by mid-1989.
Redevelopment
In the early 21st century, Charbonnages de France identified and marked the heads of Arenberg Shafts Nos. 1, 2, and 3–4, where methane vents were installed. The French Geological and Mining Research Bureau conducts annual inspections at the site.The pit, largely preserved, has been used as a filming location for several productions, including Germinal,, La Compagnie des glaces,, and. The site was fully renovated, and its preservation was largely due to the 1992 filming of Germinal by Claude Berri, which prevented its planned demolition. Some of the film sets from these productions remain in place.
The musical Arenberg, written by and commissioned by the town of Wallers and the Porte du Hainaut Urban Community, was presented on September 12 and 13, 2003, at the Arenberg mining site. The production, featuring around 120 participants, was staged and directed by Sylvie Dervaux as an adaptation of the Terres de Mineurs show into a sound-and-light performance.
The former Arenberg mining site, including Shaft No. 1 with its headframe, hoisting houses, and technical equipment; Shaft No. 2 with its headframe, surface structures, hoisting and compressor buildings, workshops, ventilation system remains, and the air gallery connecting Shafts 1 and 2; and Shaft No. 3–4 with its headframe, hoisting house, winding system, and symmetrical hoisting-engine buildings, was listed as a Monument historique on February 22, 2010. The designation also covers auxiliary buildings such as the changing rooms, lamp room, baths, connecting walkway, electrical substation, and the surrounding land, with the exception of the dynamite store. Initial protective measures were introduced in 1992, and the protected perimeter was expanded in 2010. The Arenberg Pit is one of on the UNESCO World Heritage List on June 30, 2012, as part of site No. 15.
On September 25, 2015, the film production center was inaugurated. The facility includes a recording studio, a television set, and a motion-capture system with a green screen. It occupies the restored buildings of Shafts Nos. 1 and 2, complemented by a modern extension.