Haydock Collieries

Bellerophon
Preserved at Embsay
Type and origin Power type Steam Designer Josiah Evans Builder Haydock Foundry Build date 1874
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte 0-6-0WT Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 4 ft 0 in (1.219 m) Loco weight 35 long tons (36 t) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 2.5 long tons (2.5 t) Water cap 600 imperial gallons Boiler pressure 120 psi (0.83 MPa); Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 15 in × 22 in (381 mm × 559 mm)
Performance figures Tractive effort 11,000 lbf (48.9 kN)
Career Operators Haydock Collieries National Coal Board

Haydock Collieries was a colliery company situated in and around Haydock on the Lancashire Coalfield which is now in Merseyside, England.

The shallow coal measures in the area had been worked from at least the 18th century when the major landowners were the Leghs of Lyme. Around 1830, the collieries were run by Thomas Legh and William Turner and had a horse-drawn tramway connection to the Sankey Canal. Richard Evans (1778–1864), a printer from Paternoster Row in London, bought a share in Edge Green Colliery in Golborne in 1830. An explosion in May 1831 killed up to twelve workers and the following May another explosion killed another six. In 1831 the collieries were connected to the growing railway network by a branch line to the Warrington and Newton Railway at Newton Junction. Evans bought Legh's share of Turner and Legh's business, which then took the title Turner & Evans. When Turner died, in 1847, Evans acquired his share and the firm took the title Richard Evans & Sons. The company remained in Evans' family ownership until 1889 when it became a public limited company which it remained until the formation of the National Coal Board in 1947.

The collieries had access to considerable coal reserves but the workings were subject to flooding. Ram Pit sunk in 1901 never went into production because of flooding. Some collieries were connected underground to rationalise winding operations and facilitate ventilation. In 1890 eight collieries were working.

Four of the company's collieries survived to become part of the National Coal Board (NCB) in 1947. They were Golborne, Lyme Pits, Wood Pit and Old Boston employing a total of 3,195 underground and 557 surface workers. The NCB's St.Helens Area Central Workshops were at Haydock until 1963.

Richard Evans (1778–1864) married Mary, daughter of Thomas Smith of Portsmouth, on 11 June 1810. They had six children, Richard (1811–1887), Anne (1812–1883), Joseph (1817–1889), Ruth (1819–1896), Josiah (1820–1873) and Henry (1823–1878). Joseph and Josiah followed their father into the business.