Smithills Colliery

There were numerous coal mines in the area around Smithills Hall operating in the 19th Century with tramways connected to the nearby Halliwell Bleackworks owned by J. H. Ainsworth. There are many signs and remains of industrial archeaology spread across the country park and the Smithills Estate that add further interest if you know where to spot them.

There were probably several buildings associated with the mines including an engine house in the fields below Harricroft Farm, now Barlow Park, Sharples and a powder magazine for blasting rock located across the other side of the estate near Sheep House Farm.

There are several infilled shafts including one with a proper NCB cap together with a number of small tunnels, probably mine drains that shouldn’t be entered but are interesting to shine a torch down. Due to the geology round here (Lower Coal Measures) the mines needed plenty of drainage, and the most common method seems to have been cutting a tunnel in to the base of the mines and allowing water to drain out into a local river – these often being at lower altitude in their respective valleys or ‘cloughs’.

Old mine tunnels and drains are often spotted due to the abundance of ‘ochre’ or hydrated iron 3 oxide that is present in the local iron-bearing rocks. When mining breaks down or blasts rock a large quantity of iron (far more than natural erosion) is liberated from the rock and begins to oxidise, leaching out into rivers and streams. The ochre is bright-orange to red and looks great, but it tends to destroy the natural balance of the waterways and is a hazard to native flora and fauna. If you see the ochre, there’s often an old tunnel nearby.