Crawford Colliery

Location	Aspull Moor, Aspull, near Wigan, Greater Manchester — 53.5669, -2.5919 (approximate)
Commodity	Coal
Type	Coal
Worked	1840–1915
Maximum depth	318 yards (No. 2 Pit, to the Arley mine)
Operators	Earl of Crawford and Balcarres (1840–1865), Wigan Coal & Iron Co. (1865–?)

Overview

An Earl of Crawford colliery on Aspull Moor, sunk in 1840 and worked by the Wigan Coal & Iron Company from 1865. It employed over a thousand in the 1890s, was abandoned in 1915 and was redeveloped from about 1927.

History

Crawford Colliery lay on Aspull Moor, west of the Wigan-Blackrod road and north of the Lancaster Canal. The Earl of Crawford's two shafts were sunk in 1840 to the Cannel at 88 yards and the King at 110. The Wigan Coal & Iron Company held it from 1865. No. 1 Pit was deepened to the Bone mine at 223 yards and No. 2 to the Arley at 318, with the Dairy Pit as upcast. A pair of Haigh Foundry vertical engines in one house wound both shafts with flat ropes. A Cockson fan replaced the furnace in 1883.

In 1894 No. 1 employed 582 and No. 2 472, on gas, household and steam coal. By 1905 No. 1 worked the Haigh Yard and No. 2 the Arley. Only 133 remained in 1915, when the Arley, King and Haigh Yard were abandoned. The colliery was partly dismantled about 1921. Redevelopment began about 1927, to work the Bone and King mines at 600 tons a shift. The large Mather and Platt pump from Hewlett Colliery was installed in 1929.

Geology

Lancashire Coal Measures: the Cannel at 88 yards, King at 110, Bone at 223 and Arley at 318 yards, with the Haigh Yard.

Workings

Two shafts (No. 1, 12 feet, and No. 2, 15 feet) with the Dairy Pit as upcast; twin vertical Haigh Foundry winding engines in one house; three-deck cages; Cockson fan from 1883. Redevelopment from 1927 added a steel headgear, a new fan and Lancashire boilers.

Closure

Abandoned in 1915, with plans of the Arley, King and Haigh Yard sent to the Home Office; partly dismantled about 1921; redevelopment for reworking began about 1927.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Redeveloped by Wigan Coal & Iron from about 1927 to rework the Bone and King mines.

Related mines

Aspull Pumping Pit — Both Wigan Coal & Iron workings on Aspull Moor; the pumping pit drained the Cannel and King mines of the district.
Hewlett Colliery — Hewlett's 1925 Mather and Platt pump was moved to Crawford for its redevelopment in 1929.

Nearby mines

Aspull Pumping Pit — 0.2 miles (0.3 km) N
Meadow Colliery, Haigh — 1.0 miles (1.7 km) N
Great Haigh Sough — 1.2 miles (2.0 km) SW
Rose Bridge Colliery — 1.6 miles (2.6 km) SW
Ince Hall Arley Pit — 1.7 miles (2.8 km) SW

Straight-line distance, within 9 miles (15 km). Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

Two shafts were sunk in 1840 to the Cannel at 88 yards and the King at 110 yards. ¹
No. 2 Pit was deepened to the Arley mine at 318 yards. ¹
No. 1 employed 582 and No. 2 472 in 1894. ²
Abandoned in 1915, the plans going to the Home Office. ²
Redevelopment for reworking began about 1927; Hewlett Colliery's Mather and Platt pump was moved there in 1929. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Crawford Colliery (NMRS) (reference)

Shafts, winding engines, ventilation and the 1927 redevelopment scheme, from the G. Hayes collection.

View source

Crawford Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) (reference)

Seams and employment from the lists of mines, 1894-1923.

View source

Sources

(secondary) Crawford Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
(primary) Crawford Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 1 October 2026 · Last researched: 2 October 2026