Spindle Point Colliery

Overview

A curiously named Clifton & Kersley Coal Company colliery at Kearsley, begun by the Fletcher family and worked until June 1928; four men died in an explosion while a pit was being sunk there in 1847, and three boys drowned in its sump in 1867.

History

Spindle Point Colliery lay at Kearsley, near Clifton. In January 1847 an explosion killed four men in a pit being sunk at Spindle Point by the trustees of the late Ellis Fletcher (see Disasters, below). The Northern Mine Research Society dates the colliery's start by the Fletcher family to the early 1860s, and says the newly formed Clifton & Kersley Coal Company took it over before production began, its first task being to straighten a shaft that had been sunk crooked. On 8 February 1867 three boys aged 12 and 14 drowned when a cage was lowered into the sump after the hooker-on had removed its cover. No. 3 Pit was sunk to 555 yards in search of the Arley Mine, but nothing worth working was found below the Yard Mine at 361 yards. The colliery worked the Cannel, Plodder, Trencherbone and Hell Hole Mines, employed 578 men in 1910, and remained in production until June 1928.

Geology

Manchester Coalfield: the Cannel, Plodder, Trencherbone and Hell Hole Mines were worked; No. 3 Pit found nothing workable below the Yard Mine at 361 yards.

Workings

At least three pits; No. 3 was sunk to 555 yards.

Closure

Production ended in June 1928.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Newtown Colliery — Both Clifton and Kersley Coal Company collieries in the Irwell Valley (Wikipedia).
• Wet Earth Colliery — Both begun by the Fletcher family and later worked by the Clifton and Kersley Coal Company (NMRS; Wikipedia).

Disasters & major incidents

• Spindle Point Colliery explosion, 1847
  26-27 January 1847 · Explosion · 4 fatalities
  An explosion of gas in a new pit being sunk at Spindle Point, near Clifton, by the trustees of the late Ellis Fletcher killed the four bricksetters working at the bottom on the night of 26-27 January 1847.

Recorded claims

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

• The Fletcher family started the colliery in the early 1860s, and the Clifton & Kersley Coal Company took it over before production began. ¹
• On 8 February 1867 James Doxey (14), John Doxey (12) and John Thomas Wolfenden (14) drowned when a cage was lowered into the sump. ²
• No. 3 Pit was sunk to 555 yards, but nothing worth working was found below the Yard Mine at 361 yards. ¹
• The colliery worked the Cannel, Plodder and Trencherbone Mines in 1894 and the Hell Hole and Plodder in 1915. ²
• Spindle Point remained in production until June 1928. ¹
• Spindle Point was one of the Clifton and Kersley Coal Company's Kearsley collieries. ³

Sources

1. (secondary) Spindle Point Colliery (1860-1928) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Spindle Point Colliery (UK) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Wikipedia: Clifton and Kersley Coal Company — Wikipedia
4. (secondary) Spindle Point Colliery — Grace's Guide

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026