Rishton Colliery

Overview

P. W. Pickup's colliery on Walmsley Street, Rishton, sunk from November 1883 to the Lower Mountain at 525 feet. It employed over 400 at its height, stopped coal-getting on 5 May 1941 and was used for pumping until 1970.

History

Rishton Colliery replaced an older pit at Meadowhead, sunk by Haworth & Barns about 1838 and abandoned in August 1884, which P. W. Pickup had managed. The first turf for Pickup's new shaft on Walmsley Street was cut on 7 November 1883, and his men struck a good seam in November 1884, celebrated with a dinner at the Walmsley Arms. The shafts reached 525 feet. The Lower Mountain seam, 18 to 32 inches thick, was worked under Tottleworth, with the coal face about two miles from the shaft, and a ginny road ran from the pit to a coal wharf on the canal. The colliery employed 268 in 1894, about 250 men and boys in 1908, and 437 in 1923 and 1933.

On 30 November 1925 a big fall of stone killed the shotfirer Joseph Alfred Jones and the shale drawer John Whittle. In 1934 a pipe was laid from the colliery to the Dean Reservoir at Great Harwood to supply drinking water. The workings broke into the old Whitebirk workings, and coal-getting stopped on 5 May 1941. The National Coal Board used the shafts for pumping from 1955 until 1970, and water was pumped from No. 1 shaft to Rishton paper mill until 1983. The shafts were filled in August 1991 to make way for a road, and the manager's house and office survive as Walmsley Cottages.

Geology

Lower Coal Measures: the Lower Mountain seam, 18 to 32 inches thick, with fireclay.

Workings

Two shafts to 525 feet; long haulage roads, the face about two miles from the shaft; a ginny road to a canal wharf.

Closure

Coal-getting ended on 5 May 1941 after the workings broke into old Whitebirk workings; the NCB pumped from it in 1955-70, and the shafts were filled in August 1991.

What remains

The shafts were filled in 1991 for a road; part of the ginny track survives beneath a school playground, and the manager's house and office are now Walmsley Cottages.

The former manager's house and office (Walmsley Cottages) and a buried length of ginny track.

Redevelopment

Road and housing on the South Side Estate.

Related mines

• Whitebirk Colliery — Rishton's workings broke into the old Whitebirk workings in 1941.

Recorded claims

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

• The first turf was cut on 7 November 1883 and coal was struck in November 1884. ¹
• Shaft sinking to the Lower Mountain was begun by P. W. Pickup Ltd in November 1884. ^2,3
• The colliery was 525 feet deep. ¹
• Employed 268 in 1894 and 437 in 1923. ⁴
• Coal-getting stopped in 1941; the NCB used it for pumping from 1955 to 1970. ^2,3
• The shafts were filled in August 1991; the manager's house and office survive as Walmsley Cottages. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Rishton Colliery — Cotton Town (Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council)
2. (secondary) Burnley Coalfield — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
3. (secondary) Rishton Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) Rishton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

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