Douglas Bank Colliery

Overview

A deep colliery near Bickershaw and Abram, west of Leigh, sunk from 1863 to the Cannel at 509 yards and deepened from 1887 to the Arley at 731 yards. Sinking accidents killed five men in 1865 and five more in 1888; it closed in December 1920.

History

Douglas Bank Colliery stood 310 yards east-north-east of Bickershaw and Abram station on the Wigan Junction line. Its two shafts, North and South, each 16 feet across, were begun on 19 March 1863 and sunk to the Cannel Mine at 509 yards; they were lined in brick except for 22 yards of cast-iron tubbing through old flooded workings in the Ince Seven Feet. A collapse of the shaft lining killed five sinkers in January 1865 (see Disasters, below).

From May 1887 the shafts were deepened to the Arley Mine at 731 yards. On 6 April 1888 the hoppet carrying the sinkers swung, struck the side of the shaft and overturned: three men fell and the hoppet killed two more at the bottom. By 1899 the colliery belonged to the Rose Bridge and Douglas Bank Collieries Company. The North Pit, the upcast, was wound by a Daglish twin-cylinder engine with a stepped drum and worked the Haigh Yard and Arley; the South Pit worked the Pemberton Four Feet, Wigan Five and Four Feet, Cannel and King. A furnace in the Cannel ventilated the mine until a 24-foot Walker 'Indestructible' fan was put up in 1901, and endless-rope haulage ran for some 2,450 yards. The colliery closed in December 1920.

Geology

Lancashire Coal Measures dipping about 1 in 6 east: the Ince Seven Feet at 39 yards, the Pemberton seams, Wigan Five and Four Feet, Cannel at 509 yards, King, Haigh Yard and Arley at 731 yards.

Workings

North and South shafts, 16 feet across, brick-lined with cast-iron tubbing through old workings; Daglish winding engines; furnace ventilation, then a 24-foot Walker fan from 1901; underground pumping engines; endless-rope haulage; longwall working except the Pemberton Four Feet (pillar and stall).

Closure

Closed in December 1920.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Rose Bridge Colliery — Both owned by the Rose Bridge and Douglas Bank Collieries Company.

Disasters & major incidents

• Douglas Bank Colliery shaft collapse, 1865
  4 January 1865 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 5 fatalities
  On 4 January 1865, as the sinkers at the bottom of John G. Morris's new shaft at Douglas Bank, near Wigan, began another length at about 500 yards, some 200 yards of the shaft lining gave way and fell on them. All five were killed.

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking began on 19 March 1863 and the shafts reached the Cannel Mine at 509 yards. ¹
• From May 1887 the shafts were deepened to the Arley Mine at 731 yards, 737 yards to the sump. ^1,2
• On 4 January 1865 about 200 yards of shaft lining collapsed, killing five sinkers. ^1,3,4
• On 6 April 1888 the sinkers' hoppet struck the shaft side and overturned; five men died. ^1,2,5
• The colliery closed in December 1920. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Douglas Bank Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Douglas Bank, 6 April 1888 — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Douglas Bank, 4 January 1865 — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) Douglas Bank Colliery Shaft Accident - Wigan - 1865 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (secondary) Douglas Bank Colliery Shaft Accident - Wigan - 1888 — Northern Mine Research Society

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