St Helen's Colliery, Siddick

Overview

A Cumberland coast colliery a mile north of Workington, made up of the old Nos 1 and 2 pits reopened in 1861 and the deep No. 3 (William) Pit sunk at Siddick from 1877, where a firedamp explosion in 1888 killed 30 men; it made Cumberland's first Coppée coke and closed on 1 September 1966.

History

St Helen's Colliery, also called Siddick Colliery, lay on the Cumberland coast about a mile north of Workington and 7½ miles north of Whitehaven. It stood on two sites: the older Nos 1 and 2 pits between Seaton and Flimby, and the No. 3 Pit, known as William Pit, at Siddick. William Mulcaster and Co. reopened and enlarged two old pits at St Helen's in 1861 and worked them down to the Cannel and Metal Bands; the 1861 census shows him as managing partner of a coal mine employing 202 men, 40 boys and 9 women. The St Helens Colliery Company of Mulcaster, Richard Bell and Thomas Westray took a royalty at Flimby in 1866, and the St Helens Colliery and Brickworks Company Limited was registered on 6 November 1876, with capital of £62,100, to buy the colliery and its brickworks. A Cumbria County Council marker in Workington records that the Curwen family opened five pits in 1735, among them a St Helen's Pit at Siddick.

Sinking of No. 3 Pit began at Siddick in 1877 and it raised its first coal in 1880 from the Ten Quarters seam. The two shafts stand 28½ feet apart close to the seashore; they were deepened to the Main seam, 119 fathoms down, where coal was first raised in September 1882. Nos 1 and 2 pits closed in 1887 and reopened in 1900. A block of 24 Coppée coke ovens, the first in Cumberland, was commissioned in June 1894, when 76 beehive ovens were also in use at William Pit, and Koppers by-product ovens followed in 1908. In 1902 Lord Lonsdale leased an area of undersea coal from the Crown and re-leased it to the company. No. 2 Pit closed in 1921, when its lower seams flooded during the national stoppage and were not reopened.

The colliery was one of Cumberland's larger employers: 516 people in 1894, 868 in 1900, 1,415 in 1915 and 1,515 in 1930, falling to 470 in 1947 and 531 at the end. In 1927 it raised 382,000 tons of coal, more than half of it from under the sea, and its output was coking, gas, household and steam coal. The United Steel Companies acquired it in 1943 and the National Coal Board took over in 1947. The Four Foot seam was being worked at the end, and the colliery closed on 1 September 1966.

Two explosions of firedamp, both with their ignition attributed to shot firing, are recorded. On 19 April 1888 an explosion at No. 3 Pit killed 30 men (see Disasters, below). Six men were killed in another explosion on 27 November 1922 (see Disasters, below). The Durham Mining Museum lists many other fatal accidents, from 1882 to 1946.

Geology

The Ten Quarters seam, Main Band and Three Quarters seams were the main workings, with the Lickbank, Little Main, Metal Band, Cannel Band, Six Feet and, in the last years, the Four Foot seam; fireclay was also raised. The Ten Quarters lay at 85 fathoms and the Main seam at 119 fathoms in the 1880s. The White Metal, Ten Quarters, Little Main and Lickbank seams were abandoned on 30 June 1934, and the Ten Quarters is listed as abandoned again in 1944.

Workings

Nos 1 and 2 pits lay between Seaton and Flimby; No. 3 Pit at Siddick had two shafts 28½ feet apart, the downcast 10 ft 9 in across and sunk to the Six Feet seam at 220½ fathoms and the upcast 11 ft 8 in across and 203 fathoms deep, with a Guibal fan at the upcast. Much of the coal was worked under the sea. The colliery had coke ovens and a brickworks.

Closure

The colliery closed on 1 September 1966, when the National Coal Board employed 531 people; No. 2 Pit had closed in 1921 and Nos 1 and 2 pits earlier in 1887 before reopening in 1900.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Flimby Colliery — St Helen's Nos 1 and 2 pits lay between Seaton and Flimby, and the 1866 royalty agreement for the colliery was made at Flimby.

Disasters & major incidents

• St Helen's Colliery explosion, 1888
  19 April 1888 · Explosion · 30 fatalities
  An explosion at No. 3 Pit, St Helen's Colliery, a mile north of Workington, on the evening of 19 April 1888 killed 30 men. It followed a fire that began in the morning when a shot at the face of Hogg's brow ignited firedamp, and the Inspector concluded that coal dust carried the blast down the engine dip to the downcast shaft.
• St Helen's Colliery explosion, 1922
  27 November 1922 · Explosion · 6 fatalities
  An explosion of firedamp in Ditchburn's Level in the Ten Quarters seam of No. 3 Pit, St Helen's Colliery, Workington, at about noon on 27 November 1922 killed six men. The inquiry found that a shot fired by the deputy James Johnstone, an unnecessary and overcharged top brushing shot, had emitted the flame that ignited gas.

Culture

• The Stars Look Down (Literature)
  The 1940 film was shot for a week on location at Great Clifton and at St Helens Colliery, Siddick, which stood in for the film's fictional pit.

Recorded claims

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

• William Mulcaster and Co. reopened and enlarged two old pits at St Helen's in 1861 and continued them to the Cannel and Metal Bands. ¹
• Sinking of No. 3 Pit at Siddick began in 1877 and it raised first coal in 1880; it reached the Main seam, where coal was first raised in September 1882. ^2,1,3
• The St Helens Colliery and Brickworks Company Limited was registered on 6 November 1876 with capital of £62,100 to buy the colliery and brickworks. ¹
• A battery of 24 Coppée coke ovens, the first in Cumberland, was commissioned at William Pit in June 1894; Koppers by-product ovens followed in 1908. ^1,4
• Employment was 516 in 1894, 868 in 1900, 1,415 in 1915, 1,515 in 1930, 470 in 1947 and 531 in 1966. ²
• In 1927 the colliery raised 382,000 tons of coal, more than half of it from under the sea. ¹
• The two No. 3 shafts, 28½ feet apart, were each 119 fathoms deep where they cut the Main seam, with the Ten Quarters seam 34 fathoms above at 85 fathoms. ³
• The No. 3 downcast shaft was later sunk to the Six Feet seam at 220½ fathoms and the upcast to the Lower Three Quarters seam at 203 fathoms. ²
• No. 2 Pit closed in 1921 when its lower seams flooded during the national stoppage and were not reopened. ^2,1
• The United Steel Companies acquired St Helen's Colliery in 1943 and the National Coal Board took it over in 1947. ^2,1
• The colliery closed on 1 September 1966. ^2,1
• A week of location filming for the 1940 film The Stars Look Down was done at Great Clifton and at St Helens Colliery, Siddick. ⁵
• The British Geological Survey catalogues abandonment plans for St Helens and St Helens No. 3. ⁶
• The Curwen family opened five pits in 1735, which included St Helen's Pit at Siddick. ⁷

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) St Helen's Colliery, Cumberland (Grace's Guide) — Grace's Guide
2. (primary) Durham Mining Museum - St. Helen's Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) St Helens Colliery - Workington - 1888 (NMRS) — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (secondary) Coke in West Cumberland (Industrial History of Cumbria) — Cumbria Industries
5. (secondary) The Stars Look Down (film) — Wikipedia
6. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority abandonment plans: ST HELENS NO 3 — British Geological Survey
7. (secondary) A Local History of Coal Mining (Cumbria County Council marker, Workington; Historical Marker Database) — Historical Marker Database

Record created: 30 September 2026 · Last researched: 30 September 2026