Croft Pit, Whitehaven

Overview

A Lowther pit south-west of Whitehaven, sunk in 1774 and joined to the harbour by the Croft Waggonway. It worked the coal under Sandwith through the nineteenth century, lost 23 men and boys in the explosion of 1831, and was rebuilt and renamed as the Ladysmith Pit after a new shaft was sunk beside it in 1900–1902.

History

Croft Pit was one of the western pits of the Lowthers' Whitehaven collieries, sunk in 1774 and, with Wilson Pit, placed just on the Preston Quarter side of the township boundary to work the Sandwith coals. By 1781 it was connected to the waggonway system, and that year the coal-drawing pits were Duke, King, Kells and Croft. A winding engine of 1805 was balanced by a chain hanging in a second shaft behind the engine house, and the agent Peile deepened the Croft shaft in 1818. In 1828 most of the Croft Waggonway was replaced by the Croft Incline, a gravity incline running down past Kells Pit.

During the Chancery dispute over the St Bees School royalty (1821–1840) Croft and Wilson were working the School's coal beneath Sandwith, and Croft's output of it fell from 138,386 baskets in 1827 to 58,043 in 1839; by 1841–1844 it worked wholly in the School lands. Firedamp killed six in 1828 and twenty-three in November 1831, when no one in the district where it fired survived. Four more died in 1847, and five in 1855. With Wilson closed in 1847 and Saltom in 1848, Wellington and Croft were left as the working pits, and by 1874 Croft had screens.

The Lowthers worked the collieries until August 1888, when the working pits were leased to the Whitehaven Colliery Company. The Durham Mining Museum's returns list Croft, working the Main Band, until 1905, with 626 employed in 1900. In 1900–1902 the Ladysmith shaft was sunk beside it; the drawings for the rebuilding were labelled Croft Pit, but the whole colliery was soon renamed the Ladysmith Pit.

Geology

Cumberland Coal Measures of the Whitehaven field: the Sandwith coals under the St Bees School royalty, and the Main Band, worked in 1905.

Workings

A drawing shaft with a winding engine of 1805 balanced by a chain in a second shaft; the shaft deepened in 1818; coal sent down the Croft Waggonway, from 1828 the Croft Incline, to Whitehaven harbour; screens by 1874.

Closure

The Ladysmith shaft was sunk beside Croft Pit in 1900–1902 and the rebuilt colliery was soon called the Ladysmith Pit; the Durham Mining Museum's returns name Croft until 1905 and Ladysmith from 1910.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

The site lies within the former Marchon chemical works.

Related mines

• Duke Pit — With Duke, King and Kells, one of the Lowthers' coal-drawing pits in 1781.
• Kells Pit, Whitehaven — Served by the Croft Waggonway and Incline; Kells later worked as the upcast for Croft.
• Ladysmith Pit — Ladysmith was sunk beside Croft Pit in 1900–1902 and the rebuilt colliery took its name.
• Saltom Colliery — Lowther coast pits worked together until Saltom closed in 1848.
• Wellington Pit — After Wilson closed in 1847 and Saltom in 1848, Wellington and Croft were the Lowthers' only working pits on the Whitehaven coast.

Disasters & major incidents

• Croft Pit explosion, 1828
  6 August 1828 · Explosion · 6 fatalities
  On the evening of Wednesday 6 August 1828 a sudden discharge of firedamp in the Earl of Lonsdale's Croft Pit at Whitehaven spread into distant workings and was fired by the miners there. Six men died; others were burnt.
• Croft Pit explosion, 1831
  12 November 1831 · Explosion · 22 fatalities
  At about three o'clock on the morning of Saturday 12 November 1831 firedamp exploded in the Croft Pit at Whitehaven, killing 22 men and boys outright; another brought up alive died soon after. No one in the district where it began survived to say how it happened.
• Croft Pit explosion, 1847
  28 May 1847 · Explosion · 4 fatalities
  About five o'clock on Friday 28 May 1847 gas fired at the far end of the Main Band in Croft Pit, Whitehaven, nearly two miles from the shaft, killing the four coal-haggers who had just gone in for the night shift with their lamps uncovered.

Recorded claims

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

• Croft Pit was sunk in 1774 and was connected to the waggonway system by 1781. ¹
• Its shaft was deepened in 1818, and in 1828 most of the Croft Waggonway was replaced by the Croft Incline. ¹
• Explosions at Croft killed six in 1828, twenty-three in 1831 and four in 1847. ^1,2
• The Lowthers worked the Whitehaven pits until August 1888, when they were leased to the Whitehaven Colliery Company. ^3,4
• Croft appears in the colliery returns until 1905, working the Main Band, with 626 employed in 1900. ³
• The Ladysmith shaft was sunk beside Croft Pit in 1900–1902 and the colliery was soon renamed the Ladysmith Pit. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Whitehaven Coast Archaeological Survey, including Appendix 3: Duke Pit fanhouse (Simon Chapman) — Cranstone Consultants and Ironbridge Archaeology, for the National Trust
2. (secondary) Croft Pit Explosion - Whitehaven - 1831 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Whitehaven Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) Coal — Cumbria Industrial History Society

Record created: 3 October 2026 · Last researched: 3 October 2026