Hewlett Pits war memorial plaque

A bronze First World War plaque to the men of the Wigan Coal and Iron Company's Nos. 1 and 2 Hewlett Pits at Hart Common, Westhoughton: one of nineteen the company put up at its pits and works, and the only one still where it was first fixed, on the wall of the colliery's old pay office.

The mining history in this record

After the First World War the Wigan Coal and Iron Company put up nineteen bronze plaques at its pits and works, mostly in Lancashire but one as far away as Manton Colliery, Worksop. Each recorded the men who had worked there and given their lives, and those who had won military distinctions.

The Hewlett plaque is a rectangular bronze tablet with a raised border of oak leaves and acorns and a Tudor rose at each side of its title scroll. Under 'In Memoriam' and '1 & 2 Hewlett Pits' it names 17 men killed and 5 men honoured.

Legacy today

It remains on the external wall of the former colliery pay office of the Wigan Coal and Iron Company at 552 Wigan Road, Westhoughton, now a private day nursery, where it was remounted in 2011. It is the only one of the company's nineteen plaques still at its original site.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each tagged with how solidly it's grounded and attached to the source(s) that support it. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The Hewlett Pits plaque is a bronze tablet with an oak-leaf and acorn border, recording the men of Nos. 1 and 2 Hewlett Pits who died in the Great War and those who won military distinctions. (documented fact) ^1,2
• It names 17 men killed and 5 who received honours. (documented fact) ²
• It is one of nineteen such plaques the Wigan Coal and Iron Company put up at its pits and works, and the only one still where it was first installed. (documented fact) ^1,2
• It is on the wall of the company's former colliery pay office at 552 Wigan Road, Westhoughton, now a day nursery. (documented fact) ^1,2

Mines

• Hewlett Colliery — Greater Manchester
  The plaque names the men of Nos. 1 and 2 Hewlett Pits killed in the First World War and remains on the colliery's former pay office.

Sources

1. (secondary) Wigan Coal and Iron Co. Hewlett Pits WW1 - War Memorials Online — War Memorials Online
2. (primary) Wigan Coal and Iron Co., Hewlett Pits WW1 (WMR 60730) — IWM War Memorials Register

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026