Lingard Lane Colliery

Overview

A Bredbury colliery near Stockport sunk from 1889 through water-bearing sandstone held back by cast-iron tubbing, worked by the Bredbury Colliery Company until the 1926 strike, from which it never recovered; abandoned in 1939.

History

When a shaft collapsed at their Bredbury colliery, J. and R. Stott-Milne chose a new site 950 metres to the west and began sinking Lingard Lane in 1889. The Red Sandstone gave off so much water that each pit was lined with about 73 metres of cast-iron tubbing, after which, the Manchester Times reported in May 1892, the sinkers had reached a good seam five feet thick and the pit was no longer making enough water to feed its boilers. The 349-metre shafts eventually worked the Roger or Hard Mine and the Four Feet, Five Feet, Town Lane and Yard Mines. Stott-Milne were declared bankrupt in May 1899, and by 1900 the Bredbury Colliery Company had the colliery, employing an average of 212 men underground and 30 on the surface between 1905 and 1925. It stopped during the national coal strike of 1926 and never recovered: only 35 men worked underground in 1930 and 10 in 1935, when a receiver was appointed. Two men were underground in 1938 and none in 1940, and Lingard Lane was officially abandoned in April 1939.

Geology

Manchester Coalfield beneath the Red Sandstone: the Roger (Hard), Four Feet, Five Feet, Town Lane and Yard Mines.

Workings

Two shafts 349 metres deep, each lined with about 73 metres of cast-iron tubbing through the water-bearing Red Sandstone.

Closure

Run down after the 1926 strike, in receivership by 1935, and officially abandoned in April 1939.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Sinking began in 1889, and the shafts were lined with about 73 metres of cast-iron tubbing through the Red Sandstone. ¹
• The shafts were 349 metres deep. ¹
• J. and R. Stott-Milne were declared bankrupt in May 1899, and the Bredbury Colliery Company Ltd had the colliery by 1900. ^1,2
• It employed 336 men in 1896 and 243 in 1915. ²
• The colliery stopped during the 1926 strike; 10 men worked underground in 1935, when a receiver was appointed. ¹
• Lingard Lane was officially abandoned in April 1939. ¹
• The Four Feet (Top Furnace) seam was abandoned in 1937. ³

Sources

1. (secondary) Lingard Lane Colliery (1889-1935) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Lingard Lane Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) BGS mine plans: Lingard Lane, Four Feet (Top Furnace), abandoned 1937 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026