Wharton Hall Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Little Hulton sunk about 1873 by the Wharton Hall Colliery Company and taken over by the Bridgewater Trustees around 1880; it wound coal until 1927, then served as a pumping station until complete abandonment in 1964.

History

Wharton Hall Colliery lay about three-quarters of a mile south of Brackley in Little Hulton. The Wharton Hall Colliery Company, which had taken the mineral lease from the Wharton Hall estate, appears to have begun sinking about 1873, and the Bridgewater Trustees took the colliery over in 1879 or 1880 when they bought the estate. It had three shafts, of 14 feet, 14 feet 3 inches and 11 feet diameter; Nos. 1 and 3 reached 312 and 461 yards, and No. 2 was deepened to the Arley Mine in 1903, reaching 551 yards. The Trustees improved the plant, with new screens by Walker Bros. of Wigan in 1888-89 and a 2,500 cubic feet per minute air compressor in 1912, and a Schiele fan ventilated the mine. Coal winding ceased in December 1927, when its reserves passed to Brackley Colliery. Wharton Hall became a pumping station: No. 1 Pit was abandoned and bricked over, and in 1933-34 the pumping and the No. 2 winding engine were electrified. The lattice girder headgear at No. 2 Pit stood until complete abandonment in 1964.

Geology

Lancashire Coal Measures; No. 2 Pit was deepened to the Arley Mine.

Workings

Three shafts: No. 1 (312 yards), No. 2 (551 yards after 1903) and No. 3 (461 yards). After 1927 the colliery was kept as a pumping station.

Closure

Coal winding ceased in December 1927 and the reserves were taken over by Brackley Colliery; the colliery continued as a pumping station until complete abandonment in 1964.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Brackley Colliery — Wharton Hall's reserves were taken over by Brackley Colliery when coal winding stopped in December 1927 (NMRS).

Recorded claims

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

• The Wharton Hall Colliery Company, holding the mineral lease from the Wharton Hall estate, began sinking about 1873. ¹
• The Bridgewater Trustees took the colliery over in 1879 or 1880 after buying the estate. ¹
• No. 2 Pit was deepened to the Arley Mine in 1903, reaching 551 yards. ¹
• Coal winding ceased in December 1927 and the reserves were taken over by Brackley Colliery. ¹
• Little Hulton's collieries included Wharton Hall. ²
• A Wharton Hall opencast working was abandoned in 1943. ³
• Wigan Archives holds a 1961 photograph of Wharton Hall Colliery, Little Hulton. ⁴

Sources

1. (secondary) Wharton Hall Colliery (1873-1968) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Wikipedia: Little Hulton — Wikipedia
3. (primary) BGS mine plans: Wharton Hall (Opencast), abandoned 1943 — British Geological Survey / Mining Remediation Authority
4. (primary) Wigan Archives PC2010.2663: Wharton Hall Colliery, Little Hulton, 1961 — Wigan Archives
5. (observational) Overgrown railway footbridge (Geograph 7560164) — Geograph Britain and Ireland

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