Weatherfield Main

Weatherfield Main was a large colliery which operated in Weatherfield during its industrial era. Opened in 1786, the Main mine, together with the nearby Barton mine, was key in establishing Weatherfield as a centre of employment; generations of men went on to work in the mines. The Main mine was the more successful of the two, with the Barton mine closing in 1880.

On 15th October 1906, an underground explosion at Weatherfield Main caused a massive cave-in, burying the pit's workforce alive. The sound of the explosion was heard throughout Weatherfield and a cloud of soot permeated the pit face for several hours. A rescue operation took place but was called off after two days as the thirty-seven missing men were declared dead, and three further men pulled from the rubble died on their way to the hospital. Casualties included Albert and Jack Crapper of 9 Coronation Street, Daniel Grimshaw of 1 Coronation Street, and William Schofield, grandfather of the future Ena Sharples.

The mine continued to operate until 1911, when it closed during a strike over pay and never re-opened. The land was later occupied by the Weatherfield Town Hall and North Cross Cemetary. In 1969, Ena Sharples opposed a plan to build a supermarket on top of the cemetary as she thought the men deserved to rest in peace, but backed down when she learned it was actually a college which was to be built.


 * In Daran Little's books Weatherfield Life and Around the Houses, Little states that 393 workers were killed in the disaster, although in Episode 911, Ena Sharples states that only 40 men were killed.