CULTURE Secretary Jeremy Hunt yesterday officially opened a museum’s stunning new attraction.

Mr Hunt was at the National Coal Mining Museum near Grange Moor to unveil the newly-conserved furnace shaft.

The shaft, used in bygone days to breathe fresh air into the pit, is 120 metres deep, the height of Blackpool Tower.

Visitors can now stand on top of the shaft – thanks to a special glass viewing cover – and peer down into the depths.

Mr Hunt cut the ribbon on the new shaft and then unveiled new displays in the lamproom.

When the furnace shaft was found to be in danger of collapse in 2007 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department of Trade and Industry each contributed £150,000.

This provided partnership funding for a successful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the eventual cost of around £870,000 for conserving the shaft.

The shaft – which is believed to be the only furnace shaft still in existence – would originally have had a fire lit at the bottom to send warm air up, thereby drawing in fresh air down the main riding shaft 35 metres away and so ventilating the pit.

Work to repair the shaft took around eight months.

While the repair work was under way, the museum sought to solve two challenges: how to allow visitors safe access into the furnace shaft at its base 140 metres underground and how to cover the top of the furnace shaft while still ensuring visibility.

The mine manager commissioned engineers to draw up plans for a glazed cover with access panels and this was approved by both the Lottery fund and the Mines Inspectorate.

The shaft now has a glass cover, enabling visitors to look down its full 120-metre depth, while those taking the museum’s popular underground tours can now see the pinpoint of light on the surface high above.

Mr Hunt said: “The museum is hugely important in preserving a key part of our nation’s industrial heritage.

“The opening of the new furnace shaft will make it an even more fascinating and informative experience for visitors.”

Baroness Estelle Morris, chairman of the museum and former arts minister, said the opening of the new shaft was a “great moment” for the museum.

She added: “The newly-refurbished shaft and lamproom displays are fantastic additions to the museum’s existing range of collections, features and exhibits that do so much to help keep the mining industry’s rich heritage alive by creating enjoyable and inspiring ways to learn for people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.”

The lamproom gives visitors the first taste of what to expect in the museum.

Admission to the museum is free and the site is open daily from 10am-5pm.