Bryn Hall Colliery was a coal mine on the Lancashire Coalfield in Bryn, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Greater Manchester then in the historic county of Lancashire, England. The colliery was first worked 1859 to 1864 by Smith & Sons before ownerships transferred in 1866 by Crippin and Smethurst who left the partnership a year later.^[1] It was owned by Crippin and Sons in 1868, W and B J Crippen in 1871 and in 1873 William Crippin, the owner was sinking new pits. The owners between 1875 and 1886 were W and E F Crippen followed by E F Crippen and H H Crippen up to 1892.^[2]

In 1908 the colliery had five shafts and employed 400 workers underground and 150 above ground. The colliery was managed by Peter Gorton, and his undermanagers were T Pownall, John Grundy and P Bullough.^[3]

The colliery was closed in 1945.^[1] Today the colliery site is a privately owned and consists of agricultural land, housing and a water ski lake, to the north east of the Three Sisters Recreation Area.

On 19 August 1870 an explosion ripped through the colliery, killing 20 workers.^[4] On 2 June 1873 there were more explosions in which six shotfirers were killed.^[5]

George Orwell visited the colliery in 1936 when he was gathering material for his book The Road to Wigan Pier.^[6]

• List of mining disasters in Lancashire
• Glossary of coal mining terminology

Notes

Bibliography

• "Colliery Explosion near Wigan, in England" (PDF). The New York Times. 3 September 1870. Retrieved 7 July 2015.

53°30′24″N 2°37′57″W / 53.5068°N 2.6324°W / 53.5068; -2.6324