Welch Whittle Colliery

Overview

A colliery south-west of Coppull, first sunk about 1855 by J. Darlington, re-sunk by the Blainscough company in 1892-94 to the Arley at 330 yards, and closed by the National Coal Board in 1959-60.

History

Welch Whittle Colliery lay about two and a quarter miles south-west of Coppull station on the West Coast Main Line, in the small township of Welch Whittle north of Wigan. J. Darlington sank the first shafts about 1855; that colliery closed in 1880.

The Blainscough Colliery Company began two new shafts in 1892 and finished them in December 1894. The downcast, 16 feet across, was sunk through 110 feet of surface drift and quicksand to the Arley mine at 330 yards; the upcast, 14 feet across, wound from the Cannel mine at 178 yards and the New Mine at 108. In 1896 the pit worked the Arley, Cannel and New Mine, dipping 1 in 11 to the south-east, with ponies for all underground haulage, a 24-foot Guibal fan and three Lancashire boilers.

Employment rose from 313 in 1896 to 468 in 1910. In 1933 the colliery worked the Haigh Yard, Smith and Wigan Six Feet and raised 100,000 tons a year. It passed to the National Coal Board in 1947, when 615 were employed and 142,000 tons were raised, and in 1954 worked the Smith, Six Feet, King and Bone with 621 people. The last plans, in the King and the Wigan Six Feet, were abandoned in 1959, and the colliery closed in December of that year.

Geology

Lancashire Coal Measures dipping about 1 in 11 to the south-east: the Arley, Cannel and New Mine, and later the Haigh Yard, Smith, Wigan Six Feet (Trencherbone), King, Bone and Peacock.

Workings

Two shafts of 1892-94: a 16-foot downcast to the Arley at 330 yards, sunk through 110 feet of drift and quicksand, and a 14-foot upcast winding from the Cannel at 178 yards and the New Mine at 108 yards; steam winding engines by Worsley Mesnes Ironworks and Wood & Gee of Wigan; a Guibal fan.

Closure

Closed by the National Coal Board in December 1959; the last plans, in the King and Wigan Six Feet, are dated 1959.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Blainscough Colliery — Both belonged to the Blainscough Colliery Company near Coppull, which re-sank Welch Whittle in 1892-94.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Welch Whittle Colliery opened in 1859. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• J. Darlington sank the first shafts about 1855, and that colliery closed in 1880. ¹
• Welch Whittle Colliery opened in 1859. (disputed) ²
• The Blainscough Colliery Company sank two new shafts from 1892, finishing them in December 1894; the downcast reached the Arley at 330 yards. ¹
• In 1933 the colliery raised 100,000 tons a year from the Haigh Yard, Smith and Wigan Six Feet seams. ¹
• It passed to the National Coal Board in 1947, when it employed 615 and raised 142,000 tons. ^2,1
• The colliery closed in December 1959. ^2,3

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Welch Whittle Colliery (NMRS, Wigan coalfield) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Welch Whittle Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) BGS mine plan: WELCH WHITTLE, King seam, abandoned 1959 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 25 October 2026 · Last researched: 25 October 2026