Ingleton Coalfield

The Ingleton Coalfield is in North Yorkshire, close to its border with Lancashire in north-west England. Isolated from other coal-producing areas, it is one of the smallest coalfields in Great Britain.

Mining is known to have taken place here since the early 17th century though it was the middle of the 19th century before the coalfield was further developed.

The Ingleton Coalfield is about six miles long by four miles wide lying mostly in the parish of Ingleton extending into the neighbouring parishes of Burton in Lonsdale and Thornton-in-Lonsdale. The coalfield terminates at the South Craven fault. The coal measures are shallow and represent the lowest layers in the Pennine coal measures sequence. The earliest coal mining occurred along the River Greta where Four Foot and Six Foot seams outcrop. Most deep mining was at New Ingleton Pit sunk in 1913. Its sinking led to the discovery of the Ten Foot seam (house and steam coal) at 127 yards, and the Nine Foot seam (steam and house coal) at 134 yards. Beneath them are the Four Foot seam (house, gas and coking coal) at 233 yards, the Three Foot or Yard seam (house and gas coal) at 236 yards and the Six Foot seam (steam and house coal) at 260 yards. Commercially viable deposits of fireclay lay under the Three Foot seam and pottery clay beneath the Six Foot seam used to make Ingleton Bricks.

The first mention of coal extraction is in the will of Richard Lowther, Lord of the manor of Ingleton in 1645. The Lowthers who had interests in coal elsewhere took over the manor in 1605. In 1680 the colliery was leased to their relatives the Walkers. The lease was questioned by Henry Bouch who was lord of the manor in 1678, when pits were sunk at Bull Ing. There were other pits at Raygill and Faccon. In 1701, Dr Thomas Moore of Lancaster, married into the Walker family and became sole owner of Ingleton Colliery in 1711. It was managed by Cuthbert Kidd until 1730. The Foxcrofts took over the lease of the Burton and Ingleton Collieries.

Ownership passed to the Sergeantsons for four generations. George John Sergeantson found the collieries had been neglected in 1826 and employed Joseph Hunter as colliery manager. To improve the colliery he demolished the water-wheel at Parkfoot, installed the first steam engine at Ingleton and built a house at New Winning where he sank a new shaft for a pit that was worked from 1834 to 1857.

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Wikipedia