Wet Earth Colliery
At Clifton Country Park are the industrial remains of Wet Earth Colliery. Established around 1740, the colliery was one of the first deep mines to be sunk in the Irwell Valley.
Wet Earth Colliery is of importance for three main reasons. It was the first deep mine to be sunk in the valley, and had the first application of steam winding in the area. Secondly, compared to most other pits, it had a very long working life: from around 1750 through to 1928 - almost 180 years. Finally, it’s association with James Brindley and his ingenious hydraulic pumping scheme for the colliery, which was in continuous use from 1756 to 1924, just before the colliery closed.
Exploring the Colliery
Engine shed
This shed
was built in 1896, originally to hold just one locomotive which ran on the colliery railway line. It
was later enlarged to hold two. The ditch in the centre was to enable repairs to be carried out.
Penstock arch
This
is where James Brindley got water from the River Irwell to flow underground to his giant water wheel.
Nearly 40 years after it was built, Matthew Fletcher decided to widen the stream, so that boats could
travel under the arch to go underground to where the mineshafts came up. Coal could then be put straight
on the boats so that it didn’t have to be carried.
Gal pit
This large
circular brick structure used to have a wooden frame around which a horse walked to pull ropes up from
the pit. For many years the Gal pit was used for extracting coal, as an access for mine workers and
for pumping out flood water.
Wheel chamber
The
wheel chamber was built in the 1750s by James Brindley to help solve the problem of flooding in the
mines. A large water wheel, powered by water brought in from the River Irwell was used to power bucket
pumps, to bring flood water out of the mine. This water flowed back to the River Irwell along a tunnel
called the tailrace.
Cottage
The cottage
which stood here was built at the turn of the 18th Century and survived until World War II. The original
stone building may have consisted of only one room but this was later extended between 1860 and 1880.
The brick outhouse that you can see was probably the kitchen, wash-house and larder.
Fletcher’s folly
With
the sinking of a new shaft in 1804, Ellis Fletcher decided to use a steam winding engine (rather than
horse power) to heave coal out of the mines. Fletcher’s folly was built in 1805 to allow steam from
the furnace to escape.
Fan house
The Fan
house was built in 1889 by the Walker Brothers of Wigan to ventilate the colliery (which was previously
done by a furnace). Fan blades, powered by a steam engine rotated to pull air out of the nearby upcast
shaft from the workings below.
Downloadable documents
- Map of Wet Earth Colliery (Adobe PDF format, 2.36mb)
- Exploring Wet Earth Colliery brochure (Adobe PDF format, 7.38mb)
- Wet Earth Colliery children's brochure (Adobe PDF format, 604kb)
If you are unable to view documents of these types, our downloads page provides links to viewing software.
This page was last updated on 07 November 2008
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