Wigan Junction Colliery

Overview

A colliery south of Low Hall near Abram, begun by the Turner brothers in 1876 but only won at a second attempt after the first shafts drowned; joined underground to the neighbouring Maypole Colliery, it sent the rescue party through after the Maypole explosion of 1908, and closed in 1962.

History

William and John Turner began two shafts south of Low Hall, between Platt Bridge and Abram, in 1876, one on Miss Chadwick's land and one on Mr Ridgeway's. Both sinkings were drowned out, and success came only with two other shafts sunk some distance away on Mr Snape's land; the brothers took in partners to form the Wigan Junction Colliery Company, and the colliery is recorded as open from 1887. Like its neighbours it worked under the threat of inundation from the many old workings of the Ince area. In 1894 it employed 431, producing gas, household and steam coal from the Wigan Four, Five and Six Feet, the Pemberton Five Feet and the Ince Yard. In 1907 the company became a subsidiary of Pearson and Knowles, which also controlled the Moss Hall Company, owner of Maypole Colliery a quarter of a mile to the south. The two pits were connected underground, and after the Maypole explosion of 18 August 1908 a rescue party from Wigan Junction reached three survivors in Maypole's Bickershaw Seven Feet through the connecting tunnel. The workforce fell to 177 by 1915 but rose to 796 in 1933 under the Wigan Coal Corporation, and 730 in 1947, when the National Coal Board took over. The colliery closed in May 1962.

Geology

Lancashire Middle Coal Measures: the Wigan Four, Five and Six Feet, Pemberton Five Feet and Ince Yard in 1905, later the Furnace, Ince Four Feet and Seven Feet; pyrites was also recorded in 1915.

Workings

Two shafts on Mr Snape's land, after the first two were drowned out, connected underground by a tunnel to the neighbouring Maypole Colliery.

Closure

Closed in May 1962.

What remains

Unknown.

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Related mines

• Maypole Colliery — Connected underground by a tunnel and both subsidiaries of Pearson and Knowles; Wigan Junction's rescuers reached Maypole survivors through it in 1908.

Nearby mines

• Maypole Colliery — 0.9 km W, Lancashire
• Bamfurlong Colliery — 1.9 km W
• Golborne Colliery — 4.1 km S
• Rose Bridge Colliery — 4.1 km NW
• Parsonage Colliery — 4.3 km SE, Lancashire

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

Recorded claims

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

• William and John Turner commenced two shafts south of Low Hall in 1876; both drowned out and two other shafts were sunk on Mr Snape's land; the Turners formed the Wigan Junction Colliery Co. Ltd, which in 1907 became a subsidiary of Pearson & Knowles. ¹
• Opened 1887, closed May 1962; owners Wigan Junction Colliery Co. Ltd, Wigan Coal Corporation Ltd and the NCB from 1947; employment 431 in 1894, 177 in 1915, 796 in 1933, 730 in 1947 (150,000 tons). ²
• In the 1908 Maypole explosion three miners in the Bickershaw Seven Feet survived, reached by a rescue party from Wigan Junction Colliery through a connecting tunnel. ³
• Seams worked in 1905: Ince Yard, Pemberton Five Feet and the Wigan Five, Four and Six Feet; by 1915 the Furnace, Ince Four Feet, Seven Feet and Wigan Four Feet. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Platt Bridge, Abram & Bickershaw (NMRS Wigan coalfield companies) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum - Wigan Junction Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Maypole Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 21 September 2026 · Last researched: 21 September 2026