Northern United was a colliery (a gale) owned by the Lydney and Crump Meadow Collieries Company. it was sited north-west of Cinderford. It was purchased by Henry Crawshay and Co. Ltd who began sinking a large main shaft to a depth of nearly 700 feet in 1933. It was sunk to reach the Coleford High Delf Seam, which was approimately 7 feet thick at this point. The work was welcomed by former miners of two other pits, Foxes Bridge and Crump Meadow, which had previously been closed. Venilation to the new shaft was provided by another closed pit, the Hawkwell Colliery.
By 1935 Northern United had been connected to GWR's Forest of Dean Branch Rrailway lines and was producing 450 tons of coal every week. The project was ambitious but mining proved difficult resulting in production costs exceed profits. The National Coal Board took over all the large collieries and the licensed smaller gales in 1947, including Northern United. However the NBC only ever made a profit in one year, 1960, unitl the colliies closure on 25th December 1965. Merry Christmas! It was the last deep mine in the Forest of Dean.