Closed Asturian coal shaft at El Entrego whose restored headframe and distinctive engine house with stepped pediment now house workshops of the Fundación Comarcas Mineras.
Pozu Sorriego is a closed bituminous coal shaft situated near El Entrego in the concejo of San Martín del Rey Aurelio, Asturias. The concession was originally registered in 1845 and was acquired in 1870 by Vicente Fernández Nespral, who in 1897 founded the family firm Nespral y Cía. The Sorriego concession was acquired by Nespral in 1890, and the shaft was sunk in 1911, with coal extraction beginning in 1917.
In 1918 the shaft was 135 metres deep with a diameter of 4.25 metres. The shaft was subsequently deepened, reaching 243 metres across five working levels, with the fifth level connected to the neighbouring Pozo Entrego, also owned by Nespral. The original headframe was replaced in 1952 when the shaft was deepened.
In its later operational years the shaft served as an auxiliary for the Pozo Entrego, supplying timber for roof support, earth fill, and ventilation conduits. Nespral y Cía integrated into Hunosa in 1969 or 1970, and the Pozu Sorriego was one of the first vertical shafts closed by the state company, in 1978. The shaft's engine house, a building distinguished by a stepped façade crowned with a curved pediment, is noted as particularly distinctive among the valley's mining buildings.
The headframe and engine house have been restored and the installations now house workshops and offices of the Fundación Comarcas Mineras.
The coal concession that gave rise to the Pozu Sorriego was first registered in 1845 by Francisco Torre, and passed in 1870 to Vicente Fernández Nespral. In 1890 Nespral acquired the Sorriego concession in addition to the El Entrego concession he already held. In 1897 Vicente Fernández Nespral founded the family firm Nespral y Cía, which would operate the mines at Entrego and Sorriego for the following seven decades.
The company underwent a significant change when Joaquín Velasco, a mining engineer from Valladolid who had earlier worked as a contractor sinking the Pozo Pumarabule and as lessee of the Coto Musel and La Sota mines in Laviana, married one of the owners' daughters in 1905 and joined the firm. Velasco later served as a representative in the Asamblea Nacional between 1927 and 1930. The Sorriego shaft was sunk in 1911 by Nespral y Cía, and coal extraction began in 1917.
By 1918 the shaft had reached a depth of 135 metres with a diameter of 4.25 metres, and was equipped with a 24-horsepower extraction machine and a 16-horsepower compressor. These early installations were noted as being in a poor state and awaiting definitive replacement. During the 1920s the definitive production infrastructure was established, with a reter (a classification and loading platform) and loading docks connected to the Langreo Railway, and a metal riveted-lattice headframe equipped with a Siemens extraction machine.
The shaft eventually reached a depth of 243 metres across five working levels, with the fifth level connected underground to the Pozo Entrego, which was also Nespral property. This connection allowed the Sorriego shaft to supply timber, earth fill, and ventilation and compressed air conduits to both workings in its final operational years. The engine house at the shaft is noted for its architecturally distinctive character among the buildings of the Nalón valley.
Its principal façade has a stepped upper section crowned with a curved pediment, a treatment different from those found elsewhere in the valley. When the shaft was deepened and reprofundised in 1952, the original headframe was replaced by a modern one. The Sorriego shaft thereby reached its definitive operational depth of 243 metres.
In 1969 or 1970 Nespral y Cía integrated into Hunosa, bringing the Sorriego shaft under state ownership. Hunosa retained it as an auxiliary of the Pozo Entrego. The Pozu Sorriego was one of the first vertical shafts to be closed by Hunosa, with closure in 1978.
After closure, the headframe and engine house were restored and illuminated. The installations, including the engine house building, subsequently housed workshops and offices of the Fundación Comarcas Mineras. The extraction machine, described in a 2012 political complaint as being of great historical value, was reported to have fallen into a state of neglect.