Kersley Colliery

Overview

Samuel Scowcroft and Sons' colliery at Kearsley, near Bolton, working the Trencherbone, Cannel and Plodder mines from four shafts. An explosion in the Plodder mine killed eleven on Christmas Eve 1879.

History

The colliery, sometimes called Scowcroft's, belonged to Samuel Scowcroft and Sons, with John Jones as manager in 1879. It worked the Trencherbone, the Cannel and the Plodder mines; the Dow mine, 150 yards down, was not entered from the same shaft, and the Five Quarters, 30 yards below it, had lately been reopened by a tunnel from the Dow. The Trencherbone lay about 70 yards below that, and the Cannel 66 yards below the Trencherbone.

There were four shafts, two downcast eleven feet across and two upcast of nine feet. Air for the Plodder went down the 280-yard Dow shaft and along a 200-yard tunnel, and another current down the 226-yard Trencherbone pit into the Cannel and on through a 100-yard tunnel; all the return air from the Plodder and Cannel went up one upcast with a furnace. Gas had been met only in small quantities and the men worked with naked lights.

On 24 December 1879 a fall of roof in Heathcote's place freed gas that fired at the naked lights, and eleven men and boys died.

Geology

Lancashire Coal Measures: the Dow mine at 150 yards, the Five Quarters 30 yards below, the Trencherbone about 70 yards lower, the Cannel 66 yards below that, and the Plodder, the deepest worked.

Workings

Four shafts, two downcast (11 feet) and two upcast (9 feet), the Dow shaft 280 yards and the Trencherbone pit 226 yards deep; ventilation by long tunnels and a furnace at the upcast.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Kersley Colliery explosion, 1879
  24 December 1879 · Explosion · 11 fatalities
  On Christmas Eve 1879 an outburst of gas after a fall of roof fired at the naked lights in the Plodder mine of Samuel Scowcroft and Sons' colliery at Kersley, near Bolton. Eleven men and boys died, several of them of burns over the following days.

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 colliery was the property of Samuel Sowcroft and Sons and sometimes known as 'Sowcrofts'. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery belonged to Samuel Scowcroft and Sons. ¹
• The colliery was the property of Samuel Sowcroft and Sons and sometimes known as 'Sowcrofts'. (disputed) ²
• The colliery worked the Trencherbone, Cannel and Plodder mines from four shafts. ²
• The Dow shaft was 280 yards and the Trencherbone pit 226 yards deep. ²
• An explosion in the Plodder mine on 24 December 1879 killed eleven. ^2,1

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Plodder Mine, Kersley, 24 December 1879 — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Kersley Colliery Explosion - Kersley - 1879 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 3 October 2026 · Last researched: 3 October 2026