Wigan Album

Just realised if the church tower is the Parish Church This print must show one of the earliest views of Wigan. Can't work out what the other church on the right of the print would be though?

Just had a rethink<g> If the pit was near to Arley Hall (Sounds feasable as the name of the pit is Arley Hall Pit)
The church tower would be Blackrod Church. In taking a closer look it does look more like Blackrod Church than Wigan Parish Church.

This is the Ince Hall Coal and Cannel Co's Arley Pit near Britannia Bridge, Lower Ince. It was one of the Illustrated London News stories about an explosion in the Arley Mine or Seam which occured in March 1853, it killed 58 men & boys. Twelve months later another explosion killed 87 men & boys a the same pit. The bodies were laid out in one of the outhouses of the Navigation pub. If you closely you can see a mast from one the boats on the canal. The church to the right is thought to be, St Cathrines at Birket Bank.

Thanks Cliff Looks like I was right first time<g>

Ian Winstanley's site gives a wealth of information about this disaster, and the one less than a year later. He records that the explosion shook furniture in the Britannia and the Navigation pubs, beside the canal at Britannia Bridge, which were 300 yards away. The mast on the canal boat is a bit of artistic licence - masted vessels wouldn't have been seen on the canal - there are too many fixed bridges. The church might be St Patrick's, which was founded in 1847, rather than St Catharines (which has a spire). It's at the right angle, if you were looking across from Warrington Road.