Parsonage Colliery

Overview

A Wigan Coalfield colliery sunk by the Wigan Coal and Iron Company at Leigh, whose shafts to the Arley seam were, for many years, the deepest in Britain — closed in 1992 after nearly eighty years' work, its site now a retail park.

History

The Wigan Coal and Iron Company began sinking Parsonage Colliery's two shafts in 1913, but the work was halted for two years from early 1914 by the outbreak of the First World War before resuming; the shafts, 21 feet in diameter and lined with brick, eventually reached the Arley mine at 999 yards, 1,008 yards including the sump — for many years the deepest shafts in the country. First coal was wound in 1921, and the colliery was equipped with reinforced-concrete winding houses and 88-foot headgear carrying 18-foot pulley wheels, along with a winding engine from Markhams of Chesterfield, an upcast engine from W. & J. Galloway & Sons, twelve Lancashire boilers and a 28-foot ventilation fan. Output grew rapidly, from just 1,044 tons in 1921 to 252,188 tons by 1925, working four seams for best-quality house coal; the 1926 General Strike closed the pit for 31 weeks, but by 1930 output had recovered to 325,000 tons a year. Employment grew from 85 underground and 75 surface workers in 1923 to 1,261 underground and 287 on the surface by 1933. The colliery passed to the National Coal Board on nationalisation in 1947 and was later linked underground to the neighbouring Golborne and Bickershaw collieries. Coal winding at Parsonage itself ceased in 1976, though the linked pits continued working until both closed together in early 1992; the shaft was filled with limestone and capped with concrete, and the site was redeveloped, first as a supermarket and later, in 2012, as the Parsonage Retail Park, where a set of memorial panels now commemorates the colliery's history.

Workings

Two brick-lined shafts, 21 feet in diameter, reaching the Arley mine at 999 yards (1,008 yards including the sump) — for many years the deepest shafts in Britain; equipped with reinforced-concrete winding houses, 88-foot headgear, and a 28-foot ventilation fan.

Closure

Coal winding at Parsonage itself ceased in 1976 once linked underground to Golborne and Bickershaw collieries, but the combined operation continued until all three closed together in early 1992; the shaft was filled with limestone and capped with concrete.

What remains

The site was redeveloped as a supermarket and later, in 2012, as the Parsonage Retail Park, where a set of bespoke memorial panels now commemorates the colliery's history and its role in the local community.

Recorded claims

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

• The Wigan Coal and Iron Company began sinking Parsonage Colliery's two 21-foot-diameter, brick-lined shafts in 1913, halted for two years by the First World War, eventually reaching the Arley mine at 999 yards — for many years the deepest shafts in Britain. ¹
• Output grew from 1,044 tons in 1921 to 252,188 tons by 1925 and 325,000 tons by 1930, working four seams for best-quality house coal; the 1926 General Strike closed the pit for 31 weeks. ¹
• Coal winding at Parsonage itself ceased in 1976 once linked underground to Golborne and Bickershaw collieries; the combined operation closed in early 1992, and the shaft was filled with limestone and capped with concrete. ¹
• A set of bespoke memorial panels commemorating the colliery's history was installed at the Parsonage Retail Park, built on the former colliery site, which opened in 2012. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Parsonage Colliery — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Parsonage Colliery Mining Memorial Wall, Leigh — Hardscape

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