The company worked below land of the Duke of Norfolk's estates and continued this until 1866 when they leased a large tract in the area of Woodhouse, Hackenthorpe and Beighton, at that time outside the Sheffield boundary, from the Earl Manvers.
From their agreement with the Earl of Manvers the company sunk Birley West Colliery on a site in the Shirebrook Valley between Woodhouse and Hackenthorpe and began extracting coal by 1852.
Although a small amount of coal was being cut from the new colliery, brought to the surface at Birley West, it was not until 1890 when a new winding engine was installed that it fully came on stream.
The colliery was situated to the north of, and set back from the later Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway line between Woodhouse and Kiveton.
Situated between Swallownest and Beighton it was adjacent to the main line of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway about a mile east of Woodhouse Junction.