Moston Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Moston, Newton Heath, north-east of Manchester, begun by John Stanley in the early 1850s and worked by the Oldham textile-machinery makers Platt Brothers from by 1880; its No. 4 pit was sunk to 550 metres, it employed up to 835 men, and the National Coal Board closed it in June 1950.

History

Moston Colliery lay at Newton Heath, about three miles north-east of Manchester. John Stanley sank the first shaft in the early 1850s, and either he or his executors, who ran the colliery from 1859 to 1875, sank a second shaft 420 metres to the south; both were joined to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's main line by the Moston Colliery siding. Two men, a fireman and an assistant underlooker, were killed when the shaft rope broke on 23 August 1855.

Platt Brothers and Co., the Oldham textile-machinery makers, had taken the colliery over by 1880 and probably sank a third shaft beside the siding before 1890, at what became the main colliery. No. 4 Pit, 30 metres north of No. 3, was sunk to 550 metres between 1897 and 1899. The plans of Nos. 1 and 2 Pits were closed in 1884. Moston worked the Great, Colonel, Big, Foxholes, Mary and Major seams, with the Platt and Black for short spells in the 1930s, and raised household and manufacturing coal. It employed 433 in 1894, 813 in 1910 and 835 in 1933. Pithead baths for 792 men opened on 19 February 1931.

On 11 March 1940 runaway tubs on the man-haulage crashed underground, killing five men at once and injuring many more. Under the National Coal Board Moston was an early victim of rationalisation and closed in June 1950. From about 1955 to 1965 its shafts served as a pumping station, and the site was soon built over with housing.

Geology

Lancashire coal measures, worked in the Great, Colonel, Big (Roger), Foxholes (Bottom Furnace), Mary and Major seams, with the Platt and Black in the 1930s.

Workings

Four shafts: Stanley's first two of the 1850s, joined to the main line by the Moston Colliery siding, and Platt Brothers' Nos. 3 and 4 Pits at the main colliery.

Closure

Closed by the National Coal Board in June 1950 in an early round of rationalisation; the shafts were used as a pumping station from about 1955 to 1965.

What remains

The site was rapidly developed for housing; the shafts lie under green space.

The pithead baths of 1931 survive, unlisted.

Related mines

• Butterworth Hall Colliery — Shared owner: both were worked by Platt Brothers and Co. of Oldham.
• Jubilee Colliery — Shared owner: both were worked by Platt Brothers and Co. of Oldham.
• Tunshill Colliery — Shared owner: both were worked by Platt Brothers and Co. of Oldham.

Recorded claims

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

• John Stanley sank the first shaft at Moston in the early 1850s; he or his executors ran the colliery from 1859 to 1875. ¹
• Moston No. 4 Pit was sunk to 550 metres between 1897 and 1899. ¹
• Moston Colliery employed 835 people in 1933. ²
• Pithead baths for 792 men opened at Moston on 19 February 1931. ³
• Runaway tubs on the man-haulage crashed at Moston on 11 March 1940; five men were reported killed that day and the Durham Mining Museum records six lives lost. ^2,4
• Moston Colliery was closed by the National Coal Board in June 1950. ¹
• The plans of Moston Nos. 1 and 2 Pits were closed in 1884. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Moston Colliery (1854-1950) (NMRS Lancashire coalfield) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Moston Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Moston pithead baths (Twentieth Century Society pithead baths survey) — The Twentieth Century Society
4. (primary) Moston Colliery newspaper article index (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21925628: Moston Nos. 1 and 2 (Major, Colonel, Big, Foxholes, Mary), abandoned 1884 — British Geological Survey

Record created: 23 October 2026 · Last researched: 23 October 2026