An Illustrated History of Old Sutton in St.Helens
Part 13 (of 41) - History of Clock Face Colliery
An early photograph of Clock Face Colliery - contributed by Sutton Historic Society
Clock Face Colliery was initially under the ownership of Bold Hall Estate Ltd. who registered their company on July 20th, 1893 with a capital of £200,000. Their directors included two millers, a ship owner, a sugar refiner, a colliery proprietor plus industrialist and benefactor Colonel David Gamble, who donated the Gamble Institute, where Central Library is housed, to the people of St.Helens. Although exploiting the minerals on Bold Hall land was their main raison d'etre, their industrial remit included the:
...trades of landholders, iron masters, steelmakers, and converters, colliery proprietors, coke manufacturers, miners, smelters, engineers, tinplate workers, and iron-founders in all their respective branches. 
(The Liverpool Mercury 31/7/1893)On March 23rd, 1900, the Manchester Times reported that Bold Hall Estate operations had been suspended because of the high prices of fuel and iron. The article described how 250 men had been involved in the sinking and construction of the shafts over the "past four or five years" but had now been discharged.
In 1904 The Wigan Coal and Iron Company took over the new Clock Face colliery and converted no.1 shaft into a pumping pit that coped with over 700,000 gallons of water per day. Of this 500,000 gallons were sold onto St.Helens Corporation as fresh drinking water.
The headgear of Clock Face Colliery photographed during the 1920s
Like most pits, there were many accidents at the colliery and inquests into mining fatalities were often held at the Clock Face Inn. Contemporary newspaper reports were often vague about the precise causes of death, as accidents tended to happen suddenly within poorly-lit pits. 'Witnesses' and experts attending inquests would do a lot of surmising as to what they thought might have happened.
When Head Foreman Alfred Davies (1881-1923) was found dead under a girder in no.3 pit at Clock Face in 1923, the St.Helens Reporter's account (20/4/1923) of his inquest reported comments made by the inspector of mines and by fellow mineworker Walter Jones:
Mr. Nicholson [mines inspector] said he thought the prop of the girder was misplaced by some means or other, though perhaps not all at once...the empty box must have struck the girder, causing it to fall, although the witness [Walter Jones] did not see what actually happened. 
The strikes in the 1920s caused considerable hardship to the families of local miners (see mineworking page). Just days before the 1926 national strike and subsequent lock out, the St.Helens Reporter, in an article entitled 'Who Picks the Coal? - Dangerous Practice at Clock Face' (16/4/1926), described how serious damage had been caused to the colliery dirt heap by 150 locals who'd been helping themselves to coal.
The article reported that it had been the custom for some months for residents to regularly visit the heap and "purloin some of the coal which they found there". The practice had continued despite the death of a man, which they described as a "raider", who some weeks earlier had been buried alive there.
Women picking coal at Clock Face Colliery during the 1926 lock out - note small boy on left
Fortunately on the morning of 29th March, 1926 when 150 pickers were "busily engaged raking and scratching among the dirt for coal", no one lost their life. However, the railway line which carried one hundred ton trains at the top of the heap, began to sink and so the colliery management called the police. P.C. Johnson arrived but was single-handed and quite unable to arrest so many pilferers on his own. He did manage to take the names of three men who were subsequently fined 5 shillings each by Colonel W.N. Pilkington J.P. at St.Helens Police Court.
Pit-head baths were installed at Clock Face Colliery as early as 1939, which were praised in the St.Helens press as a "boon to the housewife". Further improvements were made during the 1950s and by the early '60s the mine was producing over 160,000 tons of coal per annum and employing over 700 men.
Clock Face Colliery headgears and screens (undated)
There were 122 colliery houses in Clock Face which were occupied by the mineworkers and their families and a strong community spirit prevailed. The Clock Face Colliery Carnivals and athletics meetings were said to be among the most talked about events in the north-west and the pit had its own colliery band. However, in October 1965 the National Coal Board, as part of its national coal mine 'streamlining' initiative deemed the pit to be uneconomic claiming "geological difficulties" and the NCB announced that the colliery would close the following year.
St Helens Reporter 23/10/1965 - courtesy St.Helens Local History & Archives Library
There was then 638 men employed at the site. At the time of the announcement, John Quinn, head lampman and Clock Face employee for 44 years, expressed his feelings to the St Helens Reporter:
It is like losing a member of the family. Here you are in a community that has gone on for many years. It is a very homely and friendly pit from the management right down to the workers and this feeling has prevailed throughout the years. 
The site was reclaimed by St Helens Council as a community woodland and public open space in the late 1990s and is now known as the Clock Face Colliery Country Park and enjoyed by many.
Capped shaft number 1 at the former site of Clock Face Colliery pictured in 2009 - contributed by Neil Selfridge
Sutton Beauty & Heritage's History Pages:
01) Township of Sutton & St.Helens | 02) Lords & Masters
03) Michael Hughes of Sherdley | 04) The Sherdley Estate
05) Sutton's Halls & Houses | 06) Dr. Henry Baker Bates
07) Religion in Sutton | 08) Rev. Henry Vallancey
09) Education in Sutton | 10) Mineworking in Sutton
11) Sutton Manor Colliery #1 | 12) Sutton Manor Colliery #2
13) Clock Face Colliery | 14) Bold Colliery
15) Industry in Sutton Township | 16) Sutton Transport
17) Sutton Transport Timeline | 18) Health & Sanitary Conditions
19) Old Sutton Pubs | 20) Sport in Sutton
21) Sutton Boxers & Wrestlers | 22) Rapid Rise of Sutton Harriers
23) Leisure & Entertainment | 24) Sutton Celebrations
25) Sutton Streetnames | 26) Pudding Bag
27) Notorious & Curious Crime | 28) Sutton Tragedy #1
29) Sutton Tragedy #2 | 30) What's Wrong With Sutton?
31) How Sutton Has Changed | 32) Memories of Sutton Part 1
33) Memories of Sutton Part 2 | 34) Memories of Sutton Part 3
35) Memories of Sutton Part 4 | 36) Memories of Sutton Part 5
37) Memories of Sutton Part 6 | 38) Memories of Sutton Part 7
39) Sutton Trivia & True Facts | 40) Clog Clatters in Old Sutton
41) Research Sources, References & Bibliography
Transport; Sport, Leisure & Entertainment; Sutton Streets;
Sutton Manor Colliery #1; #2; #3; #4; Clock Face Colliery;
Bold Colliery; Sutton Industry;
Sutton Beauty & Heritage strives for factual accuracy at all times. Please do also get in touch if you believe that there are any errors, with details of any corrections contained within the site's update history page, which also details the regular updates. Many individuals from all over the world have kindly contributed Sutton information or photographs. If you would like to participate in this project, I would be delighted to hear from you and this website always credits any assistance given. Do also consider contributing any recollections of old Sutton that you might have for the Sutton Memories pages, which are proving very popular. I respond quickly to all emails and if you haven't received a response within 12 hours, please check your junk mail folder or send your message again. Thank you! SRW
