INDUSTRIES 



In 1847 tnc se 'l> n g price of screened coals 

 was 21 s. per waggon of 48 cwt. 



In 1855 an explosion of firedamp occurred 

 in the Bannock Band workings of Croft Pit, 

 about a mile from the shaft, whereby 4 men 

 were killed. 



In 1862 the Main Band was proved in 

 the St. Bees Grammar School royalty, over 

 the large downthrow fault which had stopped 

 the workings in Croft and Wilson Pits to the 

 south, and which was supposed to form the 

 southern boundary of the West Cumberland 

 coalfield. This fault has since been crossed 

 seawards by the main dip haulage road, in 

 Croft Pit, and the Bannock and Main Bands 

 have been won therefrom, the workings in 

 the latter seam being now about 2,300 yards 

 west of the St. Bees fault, underneath the 

 Permian sandstone. 



In 1863 an underground fire broke out in 

 the workings in the Six Quarters Seam, 

 Wellington Pit. The fire originated in this 

 underground flue and spread to such an extent 

 that it was determined to exclude all the air 

 from the fire by hermetically sealing Duke 

 Pit and flooding the entrance to the workings 

 in the Six Quarters Seam at the Wellington 

 shaft-foot, admitting the sea down one of the 

 Wellington Pits by means of a drift, fitted 

 with sluices, driven from the shore between 

 high and low water marks. It was not until 

 1866 that the fire was completely extin- 

 guished. 



After the death of Mr. Anderson, in 1862, 

 Messrs. T. E. and G. B. Forster and T. G. 

 Hurst were appointed Lord Lonsdale's con- 

 sulting viewers. 



In 1866 the total output of the Whitehaven 

 Colliery was 255,505 tons, derived from 

 William, Croft, Wellington, and Wreah Pits. 



Henry Pit (alongside William Pit) was 

 sunk, 1870-2, to a depth of 155 fathoms, 

 whence drifts were set away and won over 

 faults, the Six Quarters Seam, a considerable 

 area of which, both under land and sea, was 

 worked up to 1891, when the workings were 

 abandoned. 



An important bore-hole was put down with 

 the diamond rock-drill, 1873-4, at Gutterfoot, 

 St. Bees, with the view of proving the Coal 

 Measures under the Permian rocks. In this 

 it was entirely successful, for at a depth of 

 1, 438 ft. it passed through the Main Band. 



In 1874 Mr. R. F. Martin became viewer 

 for the Earl of Lonsdale's collieries. During 

 his three years in office, he thoroughly modern- 

 ized the plant, abolished the use of baskets, 

 and introduced compressed air haulage on the 

 main roads in William Pit. He erected a 

 Guibal fan at William Pit, and also at Kells 



Pit, and abolished the last of the under- 

 ground furnaces. Both above-ground and 

 under-ground he made many improvements. 



In 1877 Mr. G. H. Liddell, from Burn- 

 hope Colliery, Durham, was appointed col- 

 liery agent. 



The output of coal at the Whitehaven 

 Pits for the year 1876 was 281,968 tons. 



At William, Wellington, and Croft Pits 

 the Main Band was worked. A little of the 

 Bannock Band was worked at Wellington 

 Pit ; and the Six Quarters Seam was worked 

 at Henry and Wreah Pits. 



In 1878 Wreah Pit, Hensingham, was 

 abandoned. In 1878 Lord Lonsdale bought 

 from the Crown the coalfield ten miles 

 under the sea from Lowca Beck to the River 

 Calder. 1 



In 1 88 1 the coke industry was revived at 

 Whitehaven by the building of coke-ovens on 

 the foreshore near William Pit. 



In 1882 an explosion of firedamp took place 

 in the Countess district Main Band, William 

 Pit, by which four men were killed. 



The greatest output of the Whitehaven 

 Collieries whilst the Earl of Lonsdale worked 

 them was attained in the year 1886, when 

 417,039 tons of coal were produced from 

 William, Henry, Croft and Wellington Pits. 



On ii August, 1888, the Whitehaven 

 Collieries, worked without interruption by the 

 Lowther family since the middle of the 

 seventeenth century, were leased to Sir James 

 Bain ; his sons, Messrs. J. R. and J. D. Bain ; 

 and Mr. J. S. Simpson, who assumed the title 

 of the Whitehaven Colliery Company. The 

 new company made many changes and intro- 

 duced the endless rope haulage. 



In 1900 the output of the Whitehaven 

 Collieries was : 



William Pit . 

 Wellington Pit 

 Croft Pit . 



Tont 

 246,850 

 113,094 

 176,549 



536,493 



At the present time the workings of the 

 Whitehaven Collieries are solely in the Main 

 Band, and with the exception of those in the 

 St. Bees Grammar School royalty are all 

 under the sea. 



The Whitehaven Collieries now extend to 

 a greater distance underneath the sea than any 

 others in the world. The furthest workings 

 have been made from William Pit in the 

 Main Band, where a distance of nearly 4 

 miles from high water mark has been reached. 

 The cover at that extreme point is about 2OO 

 fathoms. 



1 43 & 44 Viet. c. 3. 



365 



