Pendlebury Colliery

Overview

Usually known as Wheatsheaf Colliery after the neighbouring public house, this Manchester Coalfield pit was sunk in 1846 by Andrew Knowles and Sons and worked the Rams, Crumbouke and Doe mines to a shaft bottom of 1,775 feet until closure in 1961. An 1870 gas explosion, triggered by a roof fall, killed six of its workforce.

History

Pendlebury Colliery, all but universally known as Wheatsheaf Colliery after the adjacent public house, was sunk in 1846 by Andrew Knowles and Sons on the Manchester Coalfield, on the north-east side of Bolton Road between Carrington Street and City Walk. It was equipped with two ten-foot diameter shafts twenty-four yards apart, originally topped with pitch pine timber headgear, and a winding engine supplied by John Musgrave & Sons of Bolton that remained in use until 1944. The shaft bottom lay at 1,775 feet, giving access to the Rams, Crumbouke and Doe seams. Ventilation was by furnace until fans were introduced in the twentieth century. On 27 September 1870, a roof fall in a boundary bay released a large quantity of gas, which travelled along the ventilation current and ignited where men were working with naked lights, killing six. By 1896 the colliery employed 640 men and boys below ground and 165 on the surface; by 1923 this had fallen to 563 below and 172 above. Andrew Knowles and Sons merged into Manchester Collieries in 1929, which in turn passed to the National Coal Board on nationalisation in 1947. A limited development programme, including a 1957 tunnel connection to nearby Newtown Colliery, prolonged the colliery's working life until closure in June 1961. The site is now occupied by the Wheatsheaf Industrial Estate.

Geology

Coal of the Manchester field; the seams worked are not recorded.

Workings

Two ten-foot diameter shafts, 24 yards apart, reaching a shaft bottom of 1,775 feet; worked the Rams, Crumbouke and Doe seams.

Closure

A limited development programme, including a 1957 tunnel connection to the nearby Newtown Colliery, extended the colliery's working life until closure in June 1961.

What remains

No colliery structures survive; the site is now occupied by the Wheatsheaf Industrial Estate, off Bolton Road.

None known to survive; the site has been fully redeveloped for industrial use.

Disasters & major incidents

• Pendlebury Colliery explosion, 1852
  29 December 1852 · Explosion · 2 fatalities
  A father and his young son, both named W. Seddon, were killed by an explosion of firedamp at Andrew Knowles and Sons' Pendlebury Colliery on 29 December 1852.
• Pendlebury Colliery roof fall, 1856
  6 February 1856 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 2 fatalities
  A fall of roof in the Bin mine at Pendlebury Colliery, near Manchester, killed P. Berry and W. Higson on 6 February 1856.
• Pendlebury Colliery Explosion, 1870
  27 September 1870 · Explosion · 6 fatalities
  A roof fall released a large quantity of gas at Pendlebury (Wheatsheaf) Colliery on 27 September 1870, which travelled along the ventilation current and ignited among men working with naked lights, killing six.
• Pendlebury Colliery fire, 1872
  6 November 1872 · Fire · 6 fatalities
  Six men and boys were suffocated at Andrew Knowles and Sons' Pendlebury Colliery on 6 November 1872 when a burning brattice cloth set the coal alight and cut off their way out.

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery was sunk in 1846 by Andrew Knowles and Sons, with two ten-foot diameter shafts twenty-four yards apart reaching a shaft bottom of 1,775 feet. ^1,2
• Andrew Knowles and Sons operated the colliery until merging into Manchester Collieries in 1929, which passed to the National Coal Board in 1947. ¹
• A 1957 tunnel connection to Newtown Colliery extended the pit's working life until closure in June 1961. ¹
• Located at about 53.514 N, 2.325 W. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Pendlebury Colliery — Wikipedia
2. (primary) Wheatsheaf Colliery (1846-1961) — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 2 September 2026 · Last researched: 3 September 2026