Stonehill Colliery

Overview

A Lancashire colliery in Worsley Road, Farnworth, four miles from Bolton, known before its owners took it over as the Dow Mine. It was one of the largest pits in the district, employing about 500 men and boys and working the Quarters, Trencherbone, Dow and Cannel mines from a shaft 300 yards deep with workings running about a mile out. On the morning of 23 January 1877 a hundred yards of cannel caught fire 1,200 yards from the shaft; most of the 300 men below got out, but eighteen working beyond the fire were suffocated by the smoke driven in on them. The pit closed in 1888.

History

The colliery was previously known as the Dow Mine, after one of the seams, before it came into the hands of the owners who worked it in the 1870s — named in the Liverpool Journal’s account of the disaster as Messrs Roscow and Ward, and in later mining-history summaries as Roscoe and Lord. It worked the Quarters, Trencherbone, Dow and Cannel mines and was well equipped for its day, with Owen’s patent safety hook fitted to stop the cage falling if the rope broke. The pit was 300 yards deep and its workings ran about a mile from the shaft; some 500 men and boys were employed, making it one of the largest collieries in the district. It was not regarded as a gassy pit, and naked lights were used underground. At about nine on the morning of Tuesday 23 January 1877, with about 300 men and boys below, word went round that a cannel mine was on fire and there was a rush for the pit mouth. A wall of cannel more than a hundred yards long was burning some 1,200 yards from the shaft, and the ventilation was carrying dense smoke further into the workings, where men were still at work. Of the thirty or so beyond the seat of the fire, those nearest got out through the flames; eighteen did not. The manager, Mr Mills, and Mr Bowker, manager to the Bridgewater Trustees, took an exploring party of about twenty down and began laying pipe from the pit eye to the fire — 1,200 yards of it, not finished until seven that evening. Water was played on the fire for hours with little effect and the roof was feared to have fallen; the fire was out two days later. Eight of the dead were married and left fifteen children unprovided for. The pit closed in 1888. The cause was not exhaustion but water: the dewatering of a new heading at Brackley Colliery to the west. A shaft on the former colliery site collapsed in January 1964.

Geology

Middle Coal Measures of the Lancashire coalfield, where a coal seam is called a mine and the pit itself the colliery. Stonehill worked the Quarters, Trencherbone, Dow and Cannel mines. Cannel — a hard, bright, gas-rich coal — was the seam that burned in 1877, and it was cannel that gave the colliery its earlier name of the Dow Mine.

Workings

A shaft 300 yards deep with workings extending about a mile. The colliery was fitted with Owen’s patent safety hook, a device to catch the cage if the winding rope broke. Naked lights were used, the pit not being considered gassy, and brattice cloth — tarred, and so readily set alight — hung underground to direct the ventilation. On the day of the fire, water was brought to the seat of it through 1,200 yards of pipe laid from the pit eye, with hose from the Farnworth Local Board brigade and from Messrs Barnes and Holden.

Closure

The pit closed in 1888, the cause being the dewatering of a new heading at Brackley Colliery to the west, which drew the water away from Stonehill’s workings. A shaft on the site collapsed in January 1964.

What remains

Nothing of the colliery survives above ground; the site lies in the built-up area of Farnworth between Bolton and Kearsley. A shaft on the former colliery site collapsed in January 1964, which is the last time the pit made itself felt.

None identified.

Related mines

• Unity Brook Colliery — Neighbouring Lancashire pits three miles apart that worked the same two seams — the Trencherbone and the Cannel — with naked lights, and lost men to that cannel fourteen months apart: eighteen suffocated by the Stonehill fire in January 1877 and forty-three killed by the Unity Brook explosion in March 1878.

Nearby mines

• Unity Brook Colliery — 1.7 km SE
• Outwood Colliery — 2.1 km NE
• Ellesmere Colliery — 2.5 km S
• Sandhole Colliery — 3.1 km S
• Ladyshore Colliery — 3.2 km NE

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

Disasters & major incidents

• Stonehill Colliery fire
  23 January 1877 · Fire · 18 fatalities
  A wall of cannel more than a hundred yards long caught fire 1,200 yards from the shaft at Stonehill Colliery, Farnworth, with about 300 men and boys below. The ventilation carried the smoke inbye onto the men working beyond it. Most of the pit got out; eighteen were suffocated. Two of the dead had turned back — a fireman to warn his workmates, a father to look for his son, who was found beside him.

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery stood in Worsley Road, Farnworth, four miles from Bolton; the pit was 300 yards deep and the workings extended about a mile from the shaft. ¹
• The Liverpool Journal of 27 January 1877 names the owners as Messrs Roscow and Ward; later mining-history summaries give the firm as Roscoe and Lord, and record that the colliery was previously known as the Dow Mine. (disputed) ¹
• At about nine on the morning of 23 January 1877, with some 300 men and boys at work, a wall of cannel more than a hundred yards long was found to be burning about 1,200 yards from the shaft, with dense smoke being carried further into the workings. ¹
• Eighteen men and boys died, asphyxiated by the smoke; eight of them were married and left fifteen children unprovided for. The Liverpool Journal, writing four days after the fire, gave fifteen names as killed and three more as missing. ^1,2
• The colliery was not considered a gassy pit and naked lights were used; the fire is believed to have started when a lad ignited the tarred brattice cloth with his lamp, the flames spreading to the wooden props and then to the coal. (uncertain) ¹
• The pit closed in 1888, the cause being the dewatering of a new heading at Brackley Colliery to the west. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Great colliery disaster near Bolton — Liverpool Journal, 27 January 1877 — Old Mersey Times
2. (secondary) Bolton Encyclopedia: 1870–1879 — Bolton Encyclopedia
3. (secondary) List of collieries in Lancashire since 1854 — Wikipedia

Record created: 6 September 2026 · Last researched: 6 September 2026