Snibston takes its name from one of the three coal mines sunk in the 1820s and 1830s that helped to create the town of Coalville in north-west Leicestershire.

Snibston Colliery, created by pioneer railway engineer George Stephenson, produced coal continuously between 1833 and 1983. In 1986 Leicestershire County Council bought the site with the aim of preserving the most important buildings, turning the derelict site into a recreational area and building a major new museum of science, technology and industry which opened in 1992.

Many of the historic colliery buildings are now very rare survivals of this once widespread industry and were described as nationally important by the Government in 1999.