Skelmersdale and District

The coalfield in the Skelmersdale district was isolated from the main Wigan coalfield. Principal landowners were the Earl of Derby and Lord Skelmersdale (later Earl of Lathom), but there were others which could sometimes cause problems for the colliery proprietors. Of the colliery proprietors there were many with changes of ownership and bankruptcies quite common throughout the life of the coalfield. Many collieries had closed by the end of the 19th century and none survived the 1930s.

Lord Skelmersdale appears to have been the first to sink pits of any consequence in the coalfield, opening up mines on the Lathom estate in the late 1840s. Following the death of Lord Skelmersdale in 1853 the pits were continued by the trustees until 1864 when they passed to the second Lord Skelmersdale. The second Lord was created the 1st Earl of Lathom in 1880. Subsequently the pits and other areas of land were leased to various colliery operators.

Near Bickerstaffe village, pits had been sunk probably in the 1840s on the Earl of Derby’s land. Unlike the 1st Lord Skelmersdale the Earl of Derby leased out his mineral resources to other colliery operators. The Bickerstaffe pits passed through a variety of hands, finally closing in 1936.

At Rainford village, pits were sunk on the Earl of Derby’s land in the late 1840s. Ownership of the colliery is unclear but in 1854 a William Harding was the proprietor. In 1857 the Moss Hall Coal Company had taken over but by 1873 the owner was the Rainford Coal Co. Ltd. New shafts were sunk to the west of Rainford village probably in the mid-1860s and the old pits were later abandoned. The Rainford Coal Co. Ltd was bankrupt in 1903 but the colliery was quickly restarted under the ownership of Bromilow, Foster & Co. Ltd. This company worked the colliery until final closure about 1929.

In the South East part of the coalfield near to Upholland, the Earl of Crawford & Balcarres leased land from Lord Skelmersdale and one Henry Gaskell. Sinking of Holland Colliery commenced about 1848 and the colliery was taken over by the Wigan Coal & Iron Co. Ltd in 1865. When Henry Gaskell died his executors terminated the lease and as vital parts of the colliery surface works were on this land the colliery had to be abandoned. It was subsequently re-opened by the White Moss Coal Co. Ltd which had other pits in the Skelmersdale coalfield. This company worked the colliery until the late 1930s, being the last working colliery in the Skelmersdale coalfield. It was purchased by the Sutton Manor Colliery Co. Ltd for its production quota.