Union Pit

Overview

The Cliviger Coal Company's headquarters pit at Walk Mill, Cliviger, sunk about 1853 with a 150-yard shaft and a drift. Gas from its own gasometer lit the shaft bottom and miners' cottages; it closed in 1943.

History

Union Pit, or Union Colliery, was sunk about 1853 at Walk Mill in Cliviger, where the Cliviger Coal Company had its headquarters. It had a shaft 150 yards (450 feet) deep, and a drift also gave access to the workings. A gasometer at the colliery supplied gas to light the shaft bottom, the surface buildings and the miners' cottages at Lower Damfield. The coal went along a tramway to the sidings and coke ovens by the railway that also served Railway Pit. Nearby Hole House Pit, just west of the bridge carrying the railway over Burnley Road, raised a little coal but served mainly as Union Pit's pumping shaft; it closed in 1939 and its buildings were demolished in 1964.

In 1910 Union Pit employed 10 miners and 19 surface workers. It outlived Railway Pit by a few years and closed in 1943. A flight of stone steps that led to the shaft and the stone-lined arch of the surface drift near the railway still survive.

Geology

Lancashire Coal Measures of the Burnley coalfield.

Workings

A 150-yard shaft and a surface drift; gas lighting from its own gasometer; Hole House Pit as pumping shaft; a tramway to sidings on the Copy Pit line.

Closure

Closed in 1943; its pumping shaft at Hole House had closed in 1939.

What remains

Stone steps to the shaft and the stone-lined arch of the surface drift survive near the railway.

Stone steps and the arched drift mouth.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Copy Pit Colliery — Both worked by the Cliviger Coal Company beside the Copy Pit line.
• Railway Pit — Both Cliviger Coal Company pits at Walk Mill, sharing the tramway to the railway sidings.

Recorded claims

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

• Sunk about 1853 with a 450-foot shaft, at the Cliviger Coal Company's headquarters. ^1,2
• A gasometer lit the shaft bottom, surface buildings and miners' cottages. ^1,2
• In 1910 it employed 10 miners and 19 surface workers. ¹
• Hole House Pit served mainly as its pumping shaft and closed in 1939. ²
• Closed in 1943; the shaft steps and drift arch survive. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Burnley Coalfield — Wikipedia — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Copy Pit Summit and the collieries formerly served by the Copy Pit route — Disused Stations

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