Howe Bridge Colliery

Overview

The largest and longest-lived of Fletcher, Burrows and Company's Atherton collieries, sunk with three separate shafts to the Seven Feet mine in 1845 and worked for 109 years until 1959 — the site where the colliery-baths idea later perfected at neighbouring Gibfield was first trialled.

History

John Fletcher's Howe Bridge Collieries sank three deep shafts to the Seven Feet mine in 1845: the Victoria pit, where coal was wound, to 447 feet; the Puffer, used for pumping water, to 435 feet; and the Volunteer, the upcast ventilation shaft. Coal production began in 1850. Howe Bridge went on to become the largest and longest-operated of the Atherton pits, working for 109 years in total. Fletcher, Burrows and Company trialled an adapted bathing building here before the purpose-built pithead baths idea it inspired was perfected at the neighbouring Gibfield Colliery in 1913. Howe Bridge's three pits passed to Manchester Collieries and then, on nationalisation in 1947, to the National Coal Board, before finally closing in 1959. Lancashire United Transport later built a bus garage and repair works on the site.

Workings

Three shafts sunk to the Seven Feet mine in 1845: the Victoria (coal winding, 447 feet), the Puffer (pumping, 435 feet) and the Volunteer (upcast ventilation).

Closure

Closed in 1959 after 109 years of working, the longest-lived of the Atherton pits.

What remains

Lancashire United Transport built a bus garage and vehicle repair works on the former colliery site after its closure.

Recorded claims

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

• John Fletcher's Howe Bridge Collieries sank three shafts to the Seven Feet mine in 1845 — the Victoria (coal winding, 447 feet), the Puffer (pumping, 435 feet) and the Volunteer (upcast) — with coal production beginning in 1850. ¹
• Fletcher, Burrows and Company trialled an adapted bathing building at Howe Bridge before perfecting the purpose-built colliery baths concept at the neighbouring Gibfield Colliery in 1913. ¹
• Howe Bridge's pits passed to Manchester Collieries and then, on 1947 nationalisation, to the National Coal Board, finally closing in 1959 after 109 years — the longest-lived of the Atherton pits. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Howe Bridge Colliery — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
2. (primary) Howe Bridge Colliery (1850-1959) — NMRS — Northern Mine Research Society

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