MineArchiveLadyshore Colliery inundation, 1835
On 10 July 1835 water from the River Croal broke into the Fletchers' Ladyshore Colliery at Little Lever, near Bolton, and drowned ten men and seven boys.
| Date | 1835 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Ladyshore Colliery |
| Region | Greater Manchester |
| Type | Flooding / Inundation |
| Fatalities | 17 (Seventeen, ten men and seven boys (Wikipedia); 'about seventeen' in evidence to the 1835 Select Committee.) |
| Context | During active mining |
Cause
Water from the river broke through at a fault the workings had not found.
Contributing factors
The fault had not been found and, a coal owner told the Select Committee, had probably not been looked for.
What happened
The colliery lay on both sides of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal near where the Croal meets the Irwell, and the geology of the valley made its pits prone to flooding. Robert Grundy, a Manchester coal owner, described the disaster to the Select Committee on Accidents in Mines that year.
Rescue & recovery
Unknown.
Investigation & inquiry
Unknown.
Legal & regulatory aftermath
Unknown.
Changes to practice & legislation
Unknown.
Memorials & commemoration
Unknown.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- Ten men and seven boys were drowned after water from the River Croal inundated the pit workings on 10 July 1835. 1
- In a mine belonging to Mr Fletcher, near a river, water broke through at a fault they had failed to find, killing about seventeen. 2
- Floods were common in the Irwell Valley pits, and in 1835 one occurred at Ladyshore. 3
Related terminology
Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.
- Coal (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the contributing factors: “The fault had not been found and, a coal owner told the Select Committee, had probably not been looked for.” - Colliery (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…1835 water from the River Croal broke into the Fletchers' Ladyshore Colliery at Little Lever, near Bolton, and drowned ten men and seven boys.” - Inrush (direct cause)
River water broke into the workings.
Sources
- (secondary) List of mining disasters in Lancashire — Wikipedia
- (secondary) Little Lever Coal Pit Inundation - Bolton - 1835 — Northern Mine Research Society
- (secondary) Ladyshore Colliery — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
Record created: 22 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026