Former Anzin colliery at Valenciennes whose 1920 reinforced-concrete headframe survives isolated in a public park as a listed monument and UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Fosse Dutemple de la Compagnie des mines d'Anzin is a former coal colliery of the Compagnie des mines d'Anzin, situated at Valenciennes. Two puits were begun in 1764, but abandoned because of the Torrent d'Anzin underground water table; fonçage resumed only in 1826. The fosse extracted houille grasse and demi-grasse, becoming the third most productive fosse of the Établissement d'Anzin.
The puits n° 1 (north), 314 metres deep, was backfilled in 1911. The fosse was destroyed during the First World War and rebuilt with a reinforced-concrete headframe in 1920, constructed by the Société Coopérative Entreprises Charles Tournay of Liège. Extraction ceased on 18 May 1940 after a total production of 6,900,000 tonnes.
The puits n° 2 (south), 930 metres deep, was backfilled in 1949 after serving for ventilation — having remained open for 185 years, the longest-serving shaft in the coalfield. The pit-head site was converted to public green space in 1974. The headframe was inscribed as a monument historique on 6 May 1992 and listed as UNESCO World Heritage site n° 14 on 30 June 2012.
The headframe stands today in a public park of approximately 25,000 m², fitted with three platforms accessible by staircase.
The Compagnie des mines d'Anzin began sinking the puits nos 1 and 2 of the fosse Dutemple — also known as the north and south puits — in 1764 at the west of Valenciennes. The shaft mouths were at an altitude of 53 metres. Coal was encountered at a depth of 76 or 79 metres (sources vary slightly), but the fosse encountered the Torrent d'Anzin, a major underground aquifer, whose water inflows were so great that fonçage was abandoned.
Resumption of fonçage was not undertaken until 1826, some 62 years later, at the same period as the sinking of the fosse Réussite. The fosse reached the demi-gras coal seam through the northern crosscuts of the 259- and 316-metre levels, after crossing a geological fault. The gisement was described as extremely disturbed by a series of crans between the faille de Bleuse Borne and the cran de retour.
In the 1880s it was planned to deepen the fosse to exploit the lower branches of the gras seam, which lay at great depth in this location. Cités were built near the fosse, forming the quartier Saint-Vaast. The puits n° 1 (north), 314 metres deep, was backfilled in 1911, before the construction of the new headframe.
The fosse was destroyed during the First World War. It was rebuilt after the war with a reinforced-concrete headframe erected in 1920, straddling both puits — though since the puits n° 1 had already been backfilled in 1911, the headframe served only the puits n° 2. This headframe was constructed by the Société Coopérative Entreprises Charles Tournay of Liège (Belgium).
It is 42.50 metres in height from ground to roofline, weighs 1,000 tonnes, and carries three sheave wheels with diameters of 6 metres at heights of 27 and 34.50 metres respectively. The structure is built on the model of metallic headframes, with the faux-carré integral with the biga framework and vertical members. Its platforms are linked by internal staircases; guard-rails are in reinforced concrete; and a 35,000-litre water reservoir is incorporated in the roofline.
It was among the earliest reinforced-concrete headframes in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region and has been noted as one of the last remaining concrete headframes of the former Compagnie des mines d'Anzin. The Compagnie constructed similar concrete headframes at its fosses Hérin, Renard, Saint-Mark and Haveluy after the First World War. Extraction at the fosse Dutemple ceased on 18 May 1940, after a total recorded production of 6,900,000 tonnes of houille grasse and demi-grasse, making it the third fosse in order of importance in the Établissement d'Anzin.
The Compagnie des mines d'Anzin was nationalised in 1946 and integrated into the Groupe de Valenciennes. The puits n° 2 continued to serve for ventilation of works until 1949, when, at a depth of 930 metres, it was backfilled. With this closure the shaft had remained open for 185 years, constituting the longest-serving shaft in the bassin minier.
In 1974 the municipality of Valenciennes decided to restore and develop the faubourg Dutemple. After acquiring the land and buildings of the former fosse, the municipality preserved the headframe and created a public green space and sports area on the former pit-head site. The resulting park covers approximately 25,000 m² and is partly wooded.
The headframe of the puits n° 2 was inscribed as a monument historique by arrêté of 6 May 1992. On 30 June 2012, the headframe was listed as part of the Bassin minier du Nord-Pas-de-Calais UNESCO World Heritage inscription, constituting site n° 14. The headframe stands today in the public park, accessible for viewing, fitted with three platforms accessible by internal staircase.
A decompression borehole S15 was drilled between 4 October and 26 November 1991 at Petite-Forêt, 1,790 metres north of the fosse Dutemple, reaching a depth of 151 metres with a diameter of 19.4 centimetres. Charbonnages de France materialised the pit-head marker in the early twenty-first century; the BRGM conducts annual inspections.
