Ince Moss Colliery

Overview

Pearson and Knowles's Moss Pits at Ince near Wigan, where in September 1871 an explosion killed everyone in the Wigan Nine Feet mine and a second blast killed five men reopening the sealed shafts; the colliery worked on for ninety years until 1962.

History

Sinking of Ince Moss Colliery, the Moss Pits at Ince near Wigan, began in 1863, and six shafts were eventually sunk on the site by the Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Company. Its deepest shafts reached the Arley mine at about 710 yards. On Wednesday 6 September 1871, about a year after the pits had begun working and while sinking was still going on in the upcast, an explosion in the Wigan Nine Feet mine, 460 yards down, killed most of those working in that seam and set it on fire; the men in the cannel mine below were all brought out (see Disasters, below). After a second, smaller blast the shafts were sealed. When they were uncovered on 20 September a terrific explosion threw flames fifty yards above the shaft and killed five men removing the covers, one of whom fell down the shaft. The pit was flooded to put out the fire; some bodies were recovered only when it was reopened in 1872, and the inquest's final verdict, in September 1873, was that the explosion was accidental but its cause could not be shown. The tolls given differ: the inspector's report reproduced by the Durham Mining Museum counts 70, NMRS 60 in the first explosion and five in the second, and a local memorial account 75. The memorial in Ince Cemetery bears only the name of the mine-owning MP Thomas Knowles. The No. 6 or Daisy Pit was begun in 1892 and wound coal from 1898. Pearson and Knowles's interests passed to the Wigan Coal Corporation in 1930 and the colliery to the National Coal Board in 1947; it closed completely in November 1962.

Geology

A long sequence of Wigan coalfield seams, from the Ince Yard at 83 yards through the Ince Seven Feet, Pemberton Five and Four Feet and Wigan Five, Four and Nine Feet (458 yards) to the cannel and King coal at about 550 yards, the Haigh Yard at 586 and the Arley at 710.

Workings

Six shafts: No. 1 to the Ince Seven Feet (129 yards), Nos. 2 and 5 to the Pemberton Four Feet, Nos. 3 and 4 to the Arley (about 710 yards) and No. 6 (Daisy) to the Wigan Nine Feet (454 yards); furnace ventilation in 1871, a Walker Brothers fan from 1892.

Closure

No. 1 Pit closed about 1920 and No. 2 about 1927; the colliery closed completely in November 1962, employing 464 underground and 146 on the surface.

What remains

Unknown.

A tall spired memorial to the 1871 disasters stands in Ince Cemetery; it names only the colliery owner and MP Thomas Knowles.

People

• Thomas Knowles · proprietor, 1871 — One of the colliery proprietors, at the shaft top when it was reopened on 20 September 1871; the Ince Cemetery memorial names only him, as the mine-owning MP for Wigan.
• Thomas Knowles · namesake — The only name on the Moss Pits disasters memorial in Ince Cemetery.

What's uncertain

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

• The inspector's report on DMM gives 70 lives lost (68 bodies left below); NMRS says 60 died in the first explosion and five in the second; a later memorial account and the Geograph caption give 75. (disputed) ^1,3,5,6

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking began in 1863 and six shafts were eventually sunk; owners were Pearson and Knowles to 1930, the Wigan Coal Corporation to 1946 and the NCB from 1947 to 1962. ¹
• On 6 September 1871 an explosion in the Wigan Nine Feet mine, 460 yards down, killed most of those working in that seam and set it on fire, while the men in the cannel mine escaped. ^1,2,3
• When the sealed shafts were opened on 20 September 1871 an explosion threw flame fifty yards above the shaft and killed five men removing the covers. ^2,4,3
• The inspector's report on DMM gives 70 lives lost (68 bodies left below); NMRS says 60 died in the first explosion and five in the second; a later memorial account and the Geograph caption give 75. (disputed) ^1,3,5,6
• The final verdict, in September 1873, was that the explosion was accidental but there was no evidence to show how it occurred. ²
• The memorial in Ince Cemetery records only the name of the mine-owning MP for Wigan, Thomas Knowles. ^5,6
• A poem, 'Lines following the disaster at the Ince Moss Colliery', was written in October 1871. ⁷
• The colliery closed completely in November 1962, employing 464 underground and 146 on the surface. ¹
• The national catalogue holds an Ince Moss surface plan among its abandonment plans for the colliery. ⁸

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Ince Moss Colliery (NMRS Wigan coalfield) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Ince Moss Colliery Explosion – Wigan – 1871 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Colliery Disaster: Ince Moss, 6 September 1871 (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) Moss Colliery Explosion – Ince-in-Makerfield – 1871 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (secondary) Ince Moss Pits Disaster, page 1 — healeyhero.co.uk
6. (observational) Moss Pits Disasters Memorial (Geograph photo 86007, 2005) — Geograph Britain and Ireland
7. (secondary) Lines following the disaster at the Ince Moss Colliery, Wigan, Lancashire. October 1871 — Coal Mining History Resource Centre
8. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans catalogue: Ince Moss (surface plan) — British Geological Survey

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026