Yew Tree Colliery

Overview

Yew Tree Colliery in Tyldesley was the site of the worst mining disaster in the town's history: a firedamp explosion in 1858, caused by a skipped safety inspection, that killed 25 men and boys.

History

Yew Tree Colliery was sunk from 1845, when George Green of Wharton Hall, Little Hulton, and his brother leased land at Yew Tree Farm in Tyldesley, Lancashire, and sank a shaft to prospect for coal on the Manchester Coalfield. By 1858 the shaft had reached 250 feet; the mine was later deepened, a ventilation shaft reaching 600 feet to work the Rams mine level, and further deepened in the early 1890s to reach the Black and White mine. A tramroad, built before 1851, connected the colliery to the Bridgewater Canal, using cable-worked inclines on its steeper sections and horse-drawn wagons elsewhere. On 11 December 1858, an explosion of firedamp in the colliery's Crombuke mine, then under the ownership of Green Holland and Company, killed 25 men and boys, the worst mining disaster in Tyldesley's history; workings by that time extended beneath the parish church of St George's. After 1870 the colliery became part of the Tyldesley Coal Company.

Workings

Sunk from 1845 by George Green and his brother; the shaft had reached 250 feet by 1858, a ventilation shaft later reached 600 feet to the Rams mine level, and the workings were further deepened in the early 1890s to reach the Black and White mine. A tramroad built before 1851 connected the colliery to the Bridgewater Canal via cable-worked inclines and horse-drawn wagons.

Disasters & major incidents

• Yew Tree Colliery Explosion, 1858
  11 December 1858 · Explosion · 25 fatalities
  A firedamp explosion in Yew Tree Colliery's Crombuke mine, caused by a skipped safety inspection, killed 25 men and boys -- the worst mining disaster in Tyldesley's history.

Recorded claims

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

• The shaft had reached 250 feet by 1858; it was later deepened, with a ventilation shaft reaching 600 feet to work the Rams mine level, and further deepened in the early 1890s to reach the Black and White mine. ¹
• A tramroad built before 1851 connected the colliery to the Bridgewater Canal, using cable-worked inclines on its steeper sections and horse-drawn wagons elsewhere. ¹
• The Northern Mine Research Society's own dedicated disaster page for the 1858 explosion independently confirms the operator (Green Holland and Company) and gives the official Inspector's findings in far more detail than is available elsewhere. ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Yew Tree Colliery — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Yew Tree Colliery Explosion, Tyldesley, 1858 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 2 September 2026 · Last researched: 2 September 2026