Sutton Manor Colliery St Helens

Sutton Manor was one of the largest pits in the Lancashire Coalfield, with the deepest shaft was 2343 ft
this video was shot by one of the miners just before it closed in 1991

Started in 1906 no.1 shaft with a diameter of 18 feet was sunk by local coal proprietor Richard Evans. This was completed in December 1909 when the shaft was extended to a depth of 1,823 feet.

The sinking of no.2 shaft at Sutton Manor began in July 1906 with a shaft diameter initially measuring 22 feet. This was completed in 1912 and extended to a depth of 2,343 feet (one source claims a depth of 2107'). The two shafts were inter-linked and it became one of the largest pits within the Lancashire coal field.

During the Spring and Summer of 1986, the NCB's successor, British Coal, electrified Sutton Manor's number 1 shaft steam winder, leaving the number 2 shaft winder in its original condition of steam. Sutton Manor colliery was, for a time, unique in possessing one of the newest electric winding engines, as well as having one of the oldest in number 2 shaft's steam winder. In fact it was the last colliery in the country to use steam

The colliery lost £23million in its last 5 years of production, it finally closed on the 24th May 1991 with 40 years of coal still underground