Railway Pit

Overview

A Cliviger Coal Company drift mine at Walk Mill, Cliviger, opened about 1840, whose workings ran almost four miles towards Hurstwood. Coal went by tramway to sidings on the railway, and it closed in 1938.

History

Railway Pit stood at Walk Mill in Cliviger, south-east of Burnley. Despite its name it was the furthest of the Cliviger Coal Company's pits from the Burnley to Todmorden railway. It was opened about 1840 and was entered by two sloping drifts 450 to 500 yards long. Its workings in the Arley stretched for almost four miles towards Hurstwood. Ginny wagons carried the coal along a tramway to sidings and coke ovens on the up side of the railway between Towneley and Holme stations. The pit was lit by candles, two to a man each shift.

Some of the company's miners were housed at Lower Damfield, stables converted to take Cornish miners brought in when local men were on strike. Coal production ended in 1938, five years before neighbouring Union Pit closed. The arched entrance to the Railway Pit drift, its engine house and traces of the ginny system survive, though the course of the tramway was later filled with rubble from the demolished Lower Damfield houses.

Geology

Lancashire Coal Measures of the Burnley coalfield: the Arley.

Workings

Two sloping drifts of 450 to 500 yards; workings extending almost four miles towards Hurstwood; a ginny tramway to sidings and coke ovens by the railway.

Closure

Coal production ceased in 1938.

What remains

The arched entrance to the drift, the engine house and traces of the ginny tramway survive.

Arched drift entrance, engine house and ginny-way traces.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Copy Pit Colliery — Both worked by the Cliviger Coal Company beside the Copy Pit line.
• Union Pit — Both Cliviger Coal Company pits at Walk Mill, sharing the tramway to the railway sidings.

Recorded claims

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

• Sunk about 1840 and entered by two sloping drifts. ^1,2
• Its workings stretched almost four miles towards Hurstwood. ^1,2
• The pit was lit by candles, two per shift. ^1,2
• Coal production ceased in 1938. ^1,2
• The arched drift entrance, engine house and traces of the tramway survive. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Burnley Coalfield — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Copy Pit Summit and the collieries formerly served by the Copy Pit route — Disused Stations

Record created: 3 October 2026 · Last researched: 3 October 2026