Rose Bridge Colliery

Overview

In 1872 the Rose Bridge shaft at Ince was the deepest coal working in England and, it was believed, in the world: 2,448 feet, through thirty-two feet of coal. The pit then spent seventy years closing and reopening before it finished for good in 1941.

History

Rose Bridge opened in 1859 under Case and Morris, at Ince a mile east of Wigan, and the No. 1 pit was opened in 1869. In 1872 its shaft was described as the deepest working for coal in England and, it was presumed, in the world, at 2,448 feet; the sinkers passed through thirty-two feet of coal in total on the way down. Latham and Gaskill held it afterwards, and then the Rose Bridge Colliery Company. Even before that the pit had a bad name. In 1847 a boiler exploded and killed James Heaton, a drawer of eighteen who had lain down between two boilers unknown to anybody and was thought to be asleep; the inquest jury returned manslaughter against the engineer and the fireman, both of whom were committed for trial. The mine closed in 1894 and was worked from time to time afterwards on a relatively small scale: restarted by Latham Brothers and closed again in March 1911, restarted in 1920 and closed in February 1926, restarted in 1929 with coal drawn from 1930. The 1923 return shows what that meant — twenty-four people on the books, eighteen of them below ground. By 1940 there were 660 again. It closed for the last time on 24 July 1941.

Geology

The Lancashire coalfield at Wigan, where the seams run deep and close together: the Rose Bridge sinkers passed through thirty-two feet of coal in the course of one shaft.

Workings

Two pits, No. 1 opened in 1869 and No. 2 closed in 1910. The shaft that made the colliery's name reached 2,448 feet, deeper than any other coal working in England in 1872.

Closure

The mine closed in 1894 and was reworked intermittently and on a small scale thereafter — restarted by Latham Brothers and closed in March 1911, restarted in 1920 and closed in February 1926, restarted in 1929 with coal drawn from 1930 — before closing finally on 24 July 1941.

What remains

No account of the colliery site as it now stands has been found. The name survives at Rose Bridge, where the A577 crosses the Leeds and Liverpool Canal at Ince.

None recorded.

Nearby mines

• Bamfurlong Colliery — 3.5 km S
• Maypole Colliery — 3.9 km S, Lancashire
• Blackrod Colliery — 5.7 km N
• Golborne Colliery — 7.8 km S
• Parsonage Colliery — 8.0 km SE, Lancashire

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• In 1872 the Rose Bridge shaft was the deepest working for coal in England and, it was presumed, in the world. Grace's Guide cites the contemporary trade press; the depth given elsewhere is 2,448 feet, and the sinkers passed through thirty-two feet of coal in total. ¹
• An inquest at the Crown and Anchor in Queen Street, Wigan, heard that James Heaton, a drawer of eighteen, had lain down between two boilers at Rose Bridge without the engineer's or fireman's knowledge and was supposed to be asleep when one of them exploded at about half past ten in the morning. The jury found the accident to have been caused entirely by neglect and returned a verdict of manslaughter against both the engineer John Ashurst and the fireman Lee Ashurst, who were committed for trial. ¹
• The Durham Mining Museum gives the colliery as opened in 1859 and closed in 1940, with No. 1 pit opened in 1869 and No. 2 closed in 1910, under Case and Morris, then Latham and Gaskill, then the Rose Bridge Colliery Co. Ltd. Grace's Guide records the mine closed in 1894 and reworked from time to time on a relatively small scale afterwards, which the employment figures bear out: twenty-four people in 1923, 560 in 1933 and 660 in 1940. ^2,1

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Rose Bridge Colliery — Grace's Guide to British Industrial History
2. (secondary) Rose Bridge Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 11 September 2026