Holland Colliery

Overview

A shallow colliery near Upholland in the Skelmersdale coalfield, sunk from about 1848, worked by the Wigan Coal and Iron Company and later the White Moss Coal Company, and bought and closed in 1938-39 for its quota.

History

Holland Colliery lay on the south side of the Wigan to Liverpool railway between Upholland and Rainford Junction, about a mile east of Rainford Junction station, in the south-east corner of the Skelmersdale coalfield. The Earl of Crawford and Balcarres leased the coal from Lord Skelmersdale and Henry Gaskell, and sinking began about 1848. At least nine shafts and a day-eye, the Crawford Day-eye, were sunk over the colliery's life, all working seams within 130 yards of the surface.

The Wigan Coal and Iron Company took the colliery over in 1865. When Henry Gaskell died his executors ended the lease, and because vital parts of the surface works stood on his land the colliery had to be given up; operations were suspended in 1880. In 1896 the White Moss Coal Company, which already had pits at Skelmersdale, reopened it and commissioned a new winding engine at No. 9 Pit that August. Employment at Nos. 6 and 9 grew to about 600 by 1910, and in 1933 the colliery employed 650.

In 1938 Sutton Manor Collieries Ltd bought Holland in order to close it and take over its production quota. The colliery closed in March 1939 and the plant was sold on 23 August 1939.

Geology

Lancashire Coal Measures at shallow depth. The colliery worked the Five Feet, Four Feet, Twelve Feet, Albert Little and Lindsay mines, all within 130 yards of the surface, and in the 1900s the Arley, Park, Rushy Park, Mountain, Albert and Seven Feet.

Workings

At least nine shafts and the Crawford Day-eye, a drift, sunk from 1848 onwards; the last to work were No. 9 Pit and the Crawford Day-eye. A ventilating fan worked before 1880, and a new winding engine was commissioned at No. 9 Pit in August 1896. No. 6 and No. 9 Pits were returned separately until 1923.

Closure

Sutton Manor Collieries Ltd bought the colliery in 1938 to close it and acquire its production quota. It closed in March 1939 and its plant was sold up on 23 August 1939.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Sutton Manor Colliery — Sutton Manor Collieries Ltd bought Holland in 1938 to close it and transfer its production quota to Sutton Manor.

What's uncertain

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

• Holland Colliery opened in 1855 and closed in March 1939. (uncertain) ³

Recorded claims

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

• The Earl of Crawford owned the colliery from 1848 to 1865, the Wigan Coal & Iron Co. Ltd from 1865 to 1896 (operations suspended 1880), the White Moss Coal Co. Ltd from 1896 to 1938 and Sutton Manor Collieries Ltd from 1938 to 1939. ¹
• When Henry Gaskell died his executors terminated the lease, and as vital parts of the surface works were on his land the colliery had to be abandoned; the White Moss Coal Co. Ltd later reopened it. ²
• At least nine shafts and the Crawford Day-eye were sunk from 1848, working the Five Feet, Four Feet, Twelve Feet, Albert Little and Lindsay mines within 130 yards of the surface. ¹
• In 1910 No. 6 Pit employed 233 and No. 9 Pit 351; in 1933 the colliery employed 650. ³
• Sutton Manor bought the colliery in 1938 to close it and obtain its production quota; the plant was sold up on 23 August 1939. ¹
• Holland Colliery opened in 1855 and closed in March 1939. (uncertain) ³
• On 23 October 1903 two tunnellers, Albert Spanns and Thomas Webster, were killed by a fall while driving a tunnel rising 1 in 3 whose roof the fireman had judged safe. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Holland Colliery - Northern Mine Research Society — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Skelmersdale and District - Northern Mine Research Society — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - Holland Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum

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