INDUSTRIES 



Curwen, Workington Hall, was working coal 

 at Branthwaite. 



In 1815 George O'Brien, Earl of Egre- 

 mont, lord of the manor of Dean, granted 

 a lease of his coal mines in Whillimoor to 

 Anthony Wild, Kidburngill, Arlecdon, coal 

 miner, and Henry James Johnson, White- 

 haven, grocer ; and in 1 834 the lease was 

 renewed to Anthony Wild's widow and John- 

 son. 



Wild's pits were situated near Dean Cross, 

 and were drained by a level into Thief Gill. 



Dean Moor Colliery was worked from 

 1856 to 1859 by General Wyndham, and 

 in 1860 by Mr. Percival. 



Subsequently it was taken by Mr. George 

 Grierson, who sank the present shafts 34 

 fathoms deep to the Yard Seam. It passed 

 through the 'Anthony Wiley ' Seam 30 in. 

 thick at 27 fathoms. 



In 1880 Mr. William Summerson, Cock- 

 field, Durham, became lessee of the colliery, 

 which is now being worked by the Dean 

 Moor Colliery Co., Ltd. 



Adjoining Dean Moor Colliery Messrs. W. 

 Baird & Co., Gartsherrie, worked the Moor- 

 side royalty in Whillimoor from 1874 to 

 1880. A seam 3 ft. thick was worked by 

 that company at No. I Pit at a depth of 14 

 fathoms. Afterwards Mr. A. Johnston 

 worked Moorside Colliery until 1899. 



In the parish of Lamplugh Messrs. Sherwen, 

 Moore, Brown and Burnyeat, sank in 1872, 

 near Whitekeld, a pit from which were 

 worked a seam 3 ft. thick, at 15 fathoms, 

 and a seam 5 ft. 2 in. thick, considered to 

 be the Main Band at 26 fathoms. The 

 colliery was abandoned in 1879. 



In the parish of Arlecdon Messrs. Brady & 

 Co. sank a pit near the Mosses about 1819, 

 but their efforts were unsuccessful. Little 

 coal mining was done until Mr. William 

 Irving, Workington, took a lease of Lord 

 Lonsdale's royalty in 1860 and put down the 

 present Asby Colliery 53 fathoms to the 

 Main Band which was found in great per- 

 fection. The Irving family along with other 

 partners carried on Asby Colliery until 1899, 

 when Messrs. Johnson and Peile, the present 

 lessees, took it. 



Coal was worked anterior to 1700 in the 

 township of Whillimoor. Since that date 

 coal has been worked in a small way at inter- 

 vals. 



The colliery at which most coal has been 

 worked in Whillimoor was Venture Pit, sunk 

 near Greenspot in 1852, by Mr. Thomas 

 Hinde, sailmaker, of Whitehaven. It was 

 let to Mr. Joseph Ward, Cleator Moor, and 

 others in 1860 ; and was discontinued in 1865. 



At Venture Pit the upper seam, 2 ft. 

 6 in. thick, at 14 fathoms, and the lower 

 seam, said to be the China Band, 3 ft. thick 

 at 26 fathoms, were worked. 



Coal was first worked in the parish of 

 Frizington about 1718. Mr. John Wood in 

 1728 worked coal in Howth Gill, where he 

 had established furnaces for the manufacture 

 of 'pit-coal iron.' In 1730 Mr. Wood's pit- 

 coal iron was proved to be worthless at a 

 public test that took place at Whitehaven. 

 From 1783 to 1789 Sir James Lowther 

 worked the Howth Gill Colliery, the out- 

 put from which was only 10 tons a day. 

 The last coal mining in Frizington was un- 

 dertaken in 1 86 1 by Messrs. Gibson, Cook 

 and Musgrave, who sank the pit known as 

 ' Boghole,' on Frizington Moor, 48 fathoms to 

 the ' Top Seam,' 5 feet thick, which was 

 worked until the colliery was closed in 1878. 



Seaton, Camerton, F/imby, Ellenborough, 

 Broughton, Dearham, Dovenby, Crosby, Gil- 

 crux. Two miners named Gorton from 

 Swailedale, Yorkshire, played a prominent 

 part in the early development of the coal 

 mines within the manor of Seaton. 



In 1722 they obtained from Mr. Henry 

 Curwen, Workington, lord of the manor, a 

 lease of the Seaton colliery for a term of 

 thirty-eight years. 



A map of Seaton coal works in 1722 shows 

 several pits, 16 fathoms deep, in Moorhouse 

 Guards, sunk on a level discharging into 

 Eagle Gill ; other pits near Seaton Town 

 Head ; and a level, driven in ' Pearson Wood,' 

 to the Yard coal in a pit near St. Helens 

 No. 2 Colliery. 



The manor passed by bequest from the 

 Curwens to Mr. Charles Pelham, Brocklesby, 

 Lincolnshire, from whom it was purchased 

 by the Earl of Lonsdale. 



In 1727 the Gortons took from Mr. Pel- 

 ham a lease of his coal mines in Seaton on 

 terms identical with those in Mr. Curwen's 

 lease. 



In 1728 Captain Walter Lutwidge and 

 Mr. John Spedding, Whitehaven, bought the 

 Gortons' interest in the leases from Mr. 

 Pelham and Mr. Curwen. Thereupon Seaton 

 Colliery was carried on by Captain Lut- 

 widge, John Spedding and Thomas Benn, 

 Whitehaven. 



In 1729 the output of coal at Seaton Col- 

 liery was 8,290 tons from Smithy, Murra 

 Cards and Aygill Pits. 



In 1732 Sir James Lowther had bought 

 out Messrs. Spedding and Benn, and from 

 that date until the end of the lease in 1760, 

 in conjunction with Captain Lutwidge, car- 

 ried on the colliery. In 1740 they had wag- 



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