New Lester Colliery

Overview

A James Roscoe colliery on Mort Lane, Tyldesley, sunk in the 1860s, that moved its coal by horse and cart until a mineral railway reached it in 1874, and worked until the 1940s.

History

New Lester Colliery's two shafts were sunk around 1865 on the east side of Mort Lane, Tyldesley, on the road to Little Hulton, by James Roscoe — who had already sunk the nearby Peel Hall and New Watergate pits — in partnership with William Roscoe; it first appears in the Lists of Mines in 1867. James Roscoe had worked as a miner in Astley before running a railway locomotive department in Leicester, and the pit's name recalls his return from there. No. 2 Pit was 471 yards deep, with a wooden trestle headgear.

The colliery initially had no rail connection at all, and coal had to be moved out by horse and cart until the London and North Western Railway built the Little Hulton mineral branch line in 1874. A further connection followed in 1888, linking the Little Hulton line to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway's Manchester-to-Southport line at Peel Hall sidings via a private line built specifically to New Lester. The company worked the line with Hunslet saddle tanks: Lord Kenyon in 1884, Mary in 1900, King Edward VII in 1907 and King George V in 1914.

The business was reorganised as James Roscoe and Sons in 1892 by his sons Thomas and George, who modernised the colliery; the shafts were deepened in the early 1890s to the Arley mine for 'Arley slack', and the pit also worked the Trencherbone, Five Quarters, Yard or Denner Main, Four Feet, Cannel, Plodder and Three Quarters mines. Employment rose from 275 in 1900 to 670 in 1940.

James Roscoe and Sons continued to operate New Lester until 1938, when Peel Collieries took over. In 1939 the colliery employed 499 men underground and 169 on the surface, but three years later only 28; its last workings were abandoned in 1944 and it had closed completely by 1947. The area of its workings was opencast after the Second World War. Even after the colliery itself was run down, the two winding engine houses and the chimney at the linked Peel Hall plant stood derelict for many years, not demolished until April 1960.

Geology

The Middle Coal Measures of the Manchester Coalfield, where the seams dip to the south and west and are cut by small faults. New Lester worked the Trencherbone and Five Quarters, and from the 1890s the Arley, Yard or Denner Main, Four Feet (Hell Hole), Cannel, Plodder, Albert and Three Quarters mines.

Workings

Two shafts sunk around 1865 on the east side of Mort Lane, No. 2 Pit reaching 471 yards under a wooden trestle headgear, and deepened to the Arley in the early 1890s. Coal was moved by horse and cart until a dedicated mineral railway branch reached the colliery in 1874; a private line to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway followed in 1888.

Closure

Operated by James Roscoe and Sons (formed 1892) until 1938, when Peel Collieries took over. Employment fell from 668 in 1939 to 28 by 1942; the Arley and the other seams were abandoned in 1944 and the colliery had closed completely by 1947. The linked Peel Hall plant's winding engine houses and chimney survived derelict until their demolition in April 1960.

What remains

The area of the coal workings was opencast after the Second World War. The two winding engine houses and the chimney at the linked Peel Hall plant stood derelict for many years after the colliery was run down.

Redevelopment

The area of the coal workings was opencast after the Second World War.

Related mines

• Peel Hall Colliery — Roscoe family collieries joined by the Little Hulton mineral branch.

Recorded claims

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

• James Roscoe sank New Lester Colliery's two shafts around 1865 on Mort Lane, Tyldesley, alongside his existing Peel Hall and New Watergate pits. ¹
• The colliery had no rail connection at first, moving coal by horse and cart until the London and North Western Railway's Little Hulton mineral branch reached it in 1874, with a further private connection to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway added in 1888. ¹
• James Roscoe and Sons (formed 1892) ran the colliery until Peel Collieries took over in 1938; the linked Peel Hall plant's winding engine houses and chimney survived derelict until demolished in April 1960. ²
• Located at about 53.519 N, 2.436 W. ¹
• In 1939 the colliery employed 499 men underground and 169 on the surface, but three years later just 15 underground and 13 on the surface; it was completely closed by 1947. ²
• New Lester's Arley workings, and its Doe Three Feet, Cannel, Plodder, Denner Main, Yard and Three Quarters workings, were abandoned in 1944. ^3,4
• No. 2 Pit was 471 yards deep and had a wooden trestle-type headgear. ²
• James Roscoe began the New Lester Pit in partnership with William Roscoe in the late 1860s, naming it after he left Leicester to return to Tyldesley; it first appears in the Mines List for 1867. ²
• Owned by James Roscoe and Sons and later Peel Hall Collieries Ltd, the colliery employed 275 in 1900, 573 in 1923 and 670 in 1940. ⁵
• The colliery worked the Trencherbone and Five Quarters by 1900 and in 1915 the Albert, Arley, Cannel, Denner Main, Five Quarters, Four Feet (Hell Hole), Plodder and Yard. ⁵
• The Trencherbone workings of New Lester Nos. 1 and 2 were abandoned in 1910. ⁶
• New Lester's shafts accessed the Arley, Yard, Four Foot, Cannel, Plodder and Three Quarters mines, and the colliery was closed by 1947. ⁷
• Roscoe's company bought the Hunslet saddle tanks Lord Kenyon in 1884, Mary in 1900, King Edward VII in 1907 and King George V in 1914. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) New Lester Colliery — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) New Lester Colliery — Engole — Engole
3. (primary) BGS mine plans: Lester New (Arley, abandoned 1944) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (primary) BGS mine plans: Lester New (Doe Three Feet, Cannel, Plodder, Denner Main, Yard, Three Quarters, abandoned 1944) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
5. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - New Lester Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum
6. (primary) BGS mine plans: Lester New Nos. 1, 2 (Trencherbone, abandoned 1910) — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
7. (secondary) List of collieries in Astley and Tyldesley — Wikipedia

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