Norley Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Norley in Pemberton, west of Wigan, where firedamp killed six men in January 1852, at least ten in April 1852 and eight in 1868; its numbered pits were abandoned in 1913 and 1922.

History

Norley Colliery lay at Norley, on the western side of Pemberton township near Lamberhead Green, west of Wigan. In 1852 it had two shafts 480 feet deep, with workings running east and west. The sources disagree over who held it that year: the Northern Mine Research Society's account names Reece Bevan and the Duke of Bridgewater as its owners, while the Southport Visiter reported that the Norley Hall Colliery was worked by the executors of the late Mr Dalglish of Pemberton.

Fire killed six men in the mine on 6 January 1852. On 24 April 1852, after most of the colliers had gone home, firedamp exploded in the Engine Pit, killing ten men and boys by the Visiter's count and twelve by the later account, most of them drawers aged between eleven and fifteen. The inquest at the Red Lion, Lamberhead Green, heard that men had been working with the tops off their lamps; the jury returned accidental death but found mismanagement, and backed the inspector's call for locked lamps only. On 21 December 1868 the fireman Elijah Cheetham fired a shot in the Orrell Four Feet seam without first examining the workings, where gas had gathered while the ventilating furnace was out for repair over the weekend; the explosion killed eight.

H. S. Higginbottom owned the colliery in 1910 and 1911. The Wigan Six, Five and Four Feet and the Orrell Five Feet workings of Norley Nos. 1, 2 and 3 were abandoned in 1913. The pits of the Norley Hall Coal Company had by then passed to William Sharrock and Peter Gaskell's Orrell company, which took over after 1895, and the workings of Orrell and Norley Nos. 4 and 5 were abandoned in 1922.

Geology

Lancashire coal measures: the Orrell Four Feet and Orrell Five Feet, and the Wigan Six, Five and Four Feet seams.

Workings

Two shafts 480 feet deep in 1852, the Engine Pit among them, with workings to the east and west; later numbered pits Nos. 1 to 5.

Closure

Norley Nos. 1, 2 and 3 were abandoned in 1913; the Orrell and Norley Nos. 4 and 5 workings were abandoned in 1922.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Orrell Colliery — Orrell Colliery absorbed the Norley Hall pits, Nos. 4 and 5, in 1897, and their workings were abandoned together as Orrell and Norley in 1922; the 1852 Norley explosion was reported at the Norley Hall Colliery.

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 property of Reece Bevan and the Duke of Bridgewater in 1852. (disputed) ¹
• Worked in 1852 by the executors of the late Mr Dalglish of Pemberton. (disputed) ²
• An explosion in the Engine Pit on 24 April 1852 killed twelve. (disputed) ¹
• The April 1852 explosion killed ten men and boys. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• In 1852 the colliery had two shafts 480 feet deep, with workings to the east and west. ¹
• The property of Reece Bevan and the Duke of Bridgewater in 1852. (disputed) ¹
• Worked in 1852 by the executors of the late Mr Dalglish of Pemberton. (disputed) ²
• Fire killed six men in the mine on 6 January 1852. ²
• An explosion in the Engine Pit on 24 April 1852 killed twelve. (disputed) ¹
• The April 1852 explosion killed ten men and boys. (disputed) ²
• A shot fired in the Orrell Four Feet seam on 21 December 1868 set off an explosion that killed eight. ³
• H. S. Higginbottom owned Norley Colliery at Orrell in 1910 and 1911. ⁴
• Norley Nos. 1, 2 and 3 were abandoned in 1913 in the Wigan Six Feet and Orrell Five Feet, among other seams. ^5,6
• The pits of the Norley Hall Coal Company were absorbed by William Sharrock and Peter Gaskell's Orrell company after 1895. ⁷
• The workings of Orrell and Norley Nos. 4 and 5 were abandoned in 1922. ⁸

Sources

1. (secondary) Norley Colliery Explosion, Wigan, 1852 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Colliery Disasters 1852 (Southport Visiter transcriptions) — Old Mersey Times
3. (secondary) Norley Colliery Explosion, Wigan, 1868 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (secondary) NMRS deaths database: James Smalley, Norley, 1911 — Northern Mine Research Society
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: NORLEY NOS.1, 2, 3, Wigan Six Feet, abandoned 1913 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
6. (primary) BGS mine plan: NORLEY NOS.1, 2, 3, Orrell Five Feet, abandoned 1913 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
7. (secondary) William Sharrock (Wigan civic histories) — Wigan and Leigh Archives
8. (primary) BGS mine plan: ORRELL AND NORLEY NOS.4, 5, Wigan Five, Four and Six Feet, abandoned 1922 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 23 October 2026 · Last researched: 25 October 2026