71 



IV. Statistics of the Collieries of Lancashire^ Cheshire^ 



and North Wales, 



By Joseph Dickinson, F.G.S., Inspector of Coal Mines. 



[Read March 7th, 1854.] 



The number of collieries in the district comprising Lan- 

 cashire, Cheshire, and North Wales, as set forth in the 

 accompanying list, is 423. Of which 



334 are in Lancashire, 

 28 in Cheshire, 

 5 in Anglesey, 

 30 in Flintshire, and 

 26 in Denbighshire. 



423 Total. 



The collieries are of various sizes. The smaller ones 

 employ only a few hands, and the larger, from a thousand 

 up to fifteen hundred persons. The output of coals per 

 colliery varies from a few tons up to a third of a million 

 tons per annum. The firm possessing the greatest interest 

 in the coal trade of the district is that of Messrs. Andrew 

 Knowles and Sons, the output of coal at whose collieries 

 amounts to about two thousand four hundred tons per diem. 



The number of working pits or shafts, exclusive of those 

 used solely for air, is 879 — besides 60 additional winnings 

 by levels and inclined planes called " day eyes ;" making a 

 total of 939 separate winnings whereby coal is now being 

 worked. The pits are of various depths up to 520 yards. 



