Birkacre Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Birkacre in the Yarrow valley at Coppull, near Chorley, opened in the 1880s to fuel the Birkacre printing and bleaching works, which grew to two pits and about 500 men and boys by 1918 and closed in July 1939, four years after its sale to the Coppull Coal Company.

History

Birkacre lies in the valley of the River Yarrow at Coppull, near Chorley. A water mill there was leased by Richard Arkwright for cotton spinning in 1778 and burned by machine wreckers the following year; it was rebuilt for calico printing, dyeing and bleaching, and steam later replaced its water power. The colliery was opened to supply the works, in 1880 by one account and around 1887 by another, and was owned by the Thom family. The works employed more than 800 people in 1883.

In the mid-1890s the colliery employed sixty to seventy men in the Bone and Smith mines; a sinker was killed in 1893 when the tip on which the hoppet landed at the pit top fell down the sinking pit. By 1900 it was working the Arley, and by 1910 it employed 229. By 1915 there were two pits, Nos. 1 and 2, working the Arley, Bone, Smith and Yard mines for household and manufacturing coal. Its owning company is listed as both the Birkacre Coal Company Limited and the Birkacre Colliery Company Limited.

The colliery was at its largest in 1918, with about 500 men and boys; in 1923 No. 1 pit employed 291 and No. 2 179. In April 1924 a scufter following a coal-cutting machine was killed when the roof collapsed beside a fault, where the packs had not been built and seven feet stood on props alone. Plans of abandoned workings record the King mine given up in 1889, the Yard in 1892, the Bone and Smith in 1898, the Arley in 1924 and the Bone in 1934.

Employment fell to about 250 in 1933 and 184 in 1937. The colliery was sold to the Coppull Coal Company Limited in 1935 and closed in July 1939, the year of its last plan, in the Smith mine. The works closed in the same decade, and many of the buildings were demolished in the 1960s.

Geology

Coal Measures of the Lancashire Coalfield: the King, Yard, Bone, Smith (probably the Middle Mountain) and Arley mines.

Workings

Two pits, Nos. 1 and 2, by 1915; machine-cut faces by 1924.

Closure

Sold to the Coppull Coal Company Limited in 1935 and closed in July 1939; the last abandonment plan, of the Smith mine, is dated 1939.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Birkacre Colliery opened in 1880 to supply the Birkacre works, which employed more than 800 people in 1883. (disputed) ¹
• The colliery opened around 1887 and was owned by the Thom family. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• Birkacre Colliery opened in 1880 to supply the Birkacre works, which employed more than 800 people in 1883. (disputed) ¹
• The colliery opened around 1887 and was owned by the Thom family. (disputed) ²
• At its peak, in 1918, the colliery employed about 500 men and boys. ²
• In 1923 No. 1 pit employed 291 people and No. 2 pit 179. ³
• The colliery was sold to the Coppull Coal Company Limited in 1935 and closed in July 1939. ²
• The works and colliery closed in the 1930s. ^1,2
• The colliery's Smith (probably Middle Mountain) mine was abandoned in 1939 and its Arley in 1924. ⁴

Sources

1. (secondary) Coppull — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Birkacre Colliery and mills, Coppull — Lancashire County Council, Red Rose Collections
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Birkacre Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) BGS mine plans: Birkacre, Smith (probably Middle Mountain) seam, abandoned 1939 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
5. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Birkacre fall of roof, 15 April 1924 — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026