Great Boys Colliery

Overview

A colliery on Great Boys farm, Tyldesley, named after the field it was sunk in, where a blown-out shot killed eight men in 1877 despite the shot-lighter having supposedly cleared the area first.

History

Great Boys Colliery took its name from Great Boys farm on Sale Lane, Tyldesley, west of the Colliers Arms public house, described as far back as 1778 as 'a messuage with eight Cheshire acres of land'. The colliery was owned by William Atkin before being sold in 1855 to the mineowners John Fletcher of Bolton and Samuel Scowcroft. It reached the Brassey mine at around 170 yards and the Six Feet mine at 182 yards. On 6 March 1877, a blown-out shot killed eight men (see Disasters, below). Fletcher and Scowcroft's partnership was dissolved by 1869, and the business became John Fletcher and Sons in 1877; the colliery itself closed before 1885.

Geology

Coal of the Lancashire field; the seams worked are not recorded.

Workings

Reached the Brassey mine at around 170 yards and the Six Feet mine at 182 yards.

Closure

Closed before 1885; the partnership that ran it had already been dissolved by 1869, with the business continuing as John Fletcher and Sons from 1877.

What remains

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Great Boys Colliery Explosion, 1877
  6 March 1877 · Explosion · 8 fatalities
  A blown-out shot at Great Boys Colliery killed eight men, despite the shot-lighter believing he had cleared the area first — the inquest jury strongly censured the mine's management.

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery took its name from Great Boys farm on Sale Lane, west of the Colliers Arms public house, and was owned by William Atkin before being sold in 1855 to John Fletcher of Bolton and Samuel Scowcroft. ¹
• The colliery reached the Brassey mine at around 170 yards and the Six Feet mine at 182 yards. ²
• The Fletcher-Scowcroft partnership was dissolved by 1869, the business continuing as John Fletcher and Sons from 1877; the colliery itself closed before 1885. ¹
• Located at about 53.516 N, 2.440 W. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Great Boys Colliery — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
2. (primary) Great Boys Colliery Explosion — Tyldesley — 1877 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 2 September 2026 · Last researched: 2 September 2026