Douglas Bank, Norley & Worsley Mesnes

Pits were being worked at Douglas Bank by the Case family, probably before 1842 and the colliery had passed to John Ashton Case by 1851. Leases of the coal seams had been obtained from several landowners. John Ashton Case also worked the Rose Bridge Colliery at Ince. Case was joined in partnership by William Grant Morris and the partners carried out extensive developments at Douglas Bank during the 1860’s, although Case appears to have dropped out by 1864. The Rose Bridge & Douglas Bank Collieries Ltd was formed in 1875 to take over the two collieries named in the title. Although Rose Bridge was relinquished in 1894, the title remained the same and the company continued to work Douglas Bank Colliery until closure in 1920 on expiry of the leases.

Woodcock and Haliburton, who worked pits in the Orrell district appear to have sunk a pit on the Walthew House estate in 1834. Their tenure seems to have been short with the pit closing about 1840. William Hill Brancker of Liverpool and the son of William Hustler who was working pits in the Orrell district formed a partnership in about 1845 and re-commenced mining on the Walthew House estate. Two more pits were sunk in 1849. The Orrell Coal & Cannel Co. Ltd was formed in 1875 with the Brancker family holding a controlling interest but this company went into liquidation in 1895. Sharrock & Gaskell took over and reopened the colliery later in 1895. From 1897, the future of the colliery became bound up with the nearby Norley Hall Colliery.

Norley Hall Colliery was commenced about 1845 by Robert and John Daglish on land belonging to Richard Eccles. John Daglish had died by 1852 and the executors sold the colliery to a partnership who traded as the Norley Hall Coal Company and later as the Norley Coal & Cannel Company. The Norley Hall Coal Company took a lease to work coal under land belonging to the Trustees of the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater. A total of five pits formed the Norley Hall Colliery. The company was in financial difficulty by 1896 and the colliery closed down.

Sharrock and Gaskell bought Nos. 4 and 5 pits and commenced to work these in conjunction with the Orrell (Walthew House) Colliery which they had also recently purchased. These partners formed the Orrell Coal & Cannel Co. Ltd in 1900.

Meanwhile S.W. Higginbotham took over Norley Hall Nos. 2 and 3 pits and worked these separately from the Nos. 4 & 5 pits. Mr. Higginbotham appears to have made a living by buying up bankrupt collieries and re-working them. It is probable that their working was accompanied by a minimum of forward development as the subsequent lives were relatively short.

In the same general area but nearer to Wigan centre were the Newtown and Meadows collieries of Lamb &.Moore. Newtown were the first pits to be sunk, probably about 1850 and these pits were actually just in Pemberton, south of the River Douglas. Jonathan Lamb was the proprietor and the firm Lamb & Moore was formed in 1865. The partnership almost immediately began to sink a new Meadows Colliery and the two collieries Newtown and Meadows were worked as a single unit thereafter. Newtown & Meadows Collieries Co. Ltd was formed in 1907, taking over from Lamb & Moore. Sharrock and Gaskell were directors but the new company did not last long, the collieries closing in 1909.

A small colliery at Worsley Mesnes was in being by 1856, operated by Messrs. Barton & Gilroy. Nathaniel Eckersley sank two new pits here which were completed about 1873. This gentleman also took over the Worsley Mesnes Ironworks at about this time and he was also engaged in the cotton manufacturing industry. Eckersley resided at Standish Hall where he was a tenant. When a member of the owning Standish family wished to return to Standish Hall, Eckersley refused to move out. By 1883, the colliery was trading as the Worsley Mesnes Colliery Co., with Eckersley as the main partner.

Following Eckersley’s death, the ironworks and colliery were for sale in 1886. Worsley Mesnes Ironworks was purchased by the Mellings and the colliery was bought by the partnership Tomlinson, Rogers and Simpson. The Worsley Mesnes Colliery Co. Ltd was formed to operate the colliery. The same partners had already taken over the Winstanley collieries and they also owned a colliery at Cross Hands in South Wales. In addition they owned Ellerbeck Colliery, Coppull. Worsley Mesnes colliery was worked until about 1928 and abandoned in 1929.