Bryn Hall Colliery
Bryn Hall Colliery was a coal mine on the Lancashire Coalfield in Bryn, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. The colliery was first worked 1859 to 1864 by Smith & Sons before ownerships transferred in 1866 by Crippin and Smethurst who left the partnership a year later.[1] It was owned by Crippin and Sons in 1868, W and B J Crippen in 1871 and in 1873 William Crippin, the owner was sinking new pits. The owners between 1875 and 1886 were W and E F Crippen followed by E F Crippen and H H Crippen up to 1892.[2]
In 1908 the colliery had five shafts and employed 400 workers underground and 150 above ground. The colliery was managed by Peter Gorton, and his undermanagers were T Pownall, John Grundy and P Bullough.[3]
The colliery was closed in 1945.[1] Today the colliery site is a privately owned and consists of agricultural land, housing and a water ski lake, to the north east of the Three Sisters Recreation Area.
Disasters
On 19 August 1870 an explosion ripped through the colliery, killing 20 workers.[4] On 2 June 1873 there were more explosions in which six shotfirers were killed.[5]
In popular culture
George Orwell visited the colliery in 1936 when he was gathering material for his book The Road to Wigan Pier.[6]
References
Notes
- "Brynn Hall Colliery". Northern Mine Research Society. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- Townley, Smith & Peden 1991, p. 202
- Bryn Hall Colliery - Raleys - Maps, Poems and Searchable Databases for Mining in the UK, Cmhrc.co.uk, archived from the original on 17 February 2012, retrieved 29 March 2013
- Disasters - Names, Durham Mining Museum, retrieved 30 March 2013
- Bryn Hall. Ashton-in-Makerfield, Lancashire. 2nd. June. 1873. (PDF), The Coalmining History Research Centre, p. 4, archived from the original (PDF) on 22 March 2013, retrieved 29 March 2013
- Orwells tracks, archived from the original on 3 December 2013, retrieved 29 March 2013
Bibliography
- Townley, C. H. A.; Smith, F. D.; Peden, J. A. (1991), The Industrial railways of the Wigan Coalfield, Part One, West and South of Wigan Coalfield, Runpast, ISBN 1-870754-18-2
External links
- "Colliery Explosion near Wigan, in England" (PDF). The New York Times. 3 September 1870. Retrieved 7 July 2015.