56 - Lancashire Coal Measures : Description

Physical and functional links to other National Character Areas

The Lancashire Coal Measures NCA extends from the low-lying undulating farmland and peatland of the Mersey Valley NCA in the south, to the Lancashire and Amounderness Plain NCA in the north-west. To the east, this NCA merges with the metropolitan areas of the Manchester Conurbation NCA and Manchester Pennine Fringe NCA, and to the south-west with the Merseyside Conurbation NCA.

With an elevation of 150 m, the Upholland Ridge forms the western boundary of this area and presents a vantage point across both this NCA and the Lancashire and Amounderness Plain. From the summit of Billinge Hill (179 m), the landform falls abruptly to the lowlands of the Merseyside Conurbation and Mersey Valley, providing extensive views to the coast and the Irish Sea. The foothills of the Southern Pennines at Horwich and Rivington, to the north-east of this area, provide a backdrop of upland views.

In the north, the principal river is the Douglas, which flows around Wigan and then generally north-north-west, through the Lancashire and Amounderness Plain and into the Ribble Estuary. It also connects to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which passes through the NCA. In the southern part of the NCA a number of tributaries flow into Sankey Brook, which in turn drains into the River Mersey near Warrington, in the adjacent Mersey Valley NCA. Remnant sections of the St Helens Canal run through the centre of St Helens and follow the course of Sankey Brook. Hey Brook joins the River Glaze, which flows south into the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal, in the Mersey Valley NCA.

The Lancashire Coal Measures NCA forms a busy communications hub, with a number of strategically important transport routes passing through it. The M6 and M61 motorways, as well as the West Coast Main Line railway, are important arterial routes running north to south. East to west, the M58, A580 and regional rail network link the Merseyside and Manchester conurbations.

The Lancashire Coal Measures today

The Lancashire Coal Measures NCA surrounds the towns of St Helens and Wigan. The industrial heritage of the area is based on its long coal mining history, heavy industry, restored mineral workings and subsidence flashes, interspersed with a complex mosaic of farmland and urban centres. This all gives the area a strong and distinctive cultural identity.

The land rises to 179 m at the summit of Billinge Hill, on the western boundary, falling abruptly to the Lancashire and Amounderness Plain NCA in the northwest, Merseyside Conurbation NCA to the west and the Mersey Valley NCA in the south. Gentle hills and valleys run from north-west to south-east. To the north-east of the area there are views to the foothills of the Southern Pennines NCA, while to the east and south-east is the heavily populated Manchester Conurbation NCA.

The area is crossed by a number of rivers, of which the River Douglas is the largest. Past industrial activity and mining subsidence have severely altered the drainage and landform of the area, creating a disrupted drainage pattern characterised by low-lying waterbodies, subsidence flashes and peatlands. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal and Bridgewater Canal both pass through the area.

Woodland is limited across the Lancashire Coal Measures, covering less than 9 per cent of the area. The principal exception is the area to the north-west of Wigan, where a higher incidence of trees and woodland – along with a more complex, undulating landform – creates a more enclosed and small-scale landscape. The Red Rose Community Forest covers the north-east of the area, while the Mersey Community Forest is in the south-west. The establishment of these community woodlands has provided the framework for a new landscape and has created habitats for nature conservation, public access, enjoyment and improved quality of life.

The Upholland Ridge and Billinge Hill, to the north-west and west of the NCA respectively, provide extensive views over the Lancashire and Amounderness Plain, Merseyside and the Mersey Valley. The foothills of the Southern Pennines provide a backdrop of upland views to the north-east.

Pockets of farmland are interspersed within the urban fabric. There are several large tracts of Grade 3 agricultural land, with smaller areas of Grade 2 land towards the west, and some patches of Grade 4 land – mainly in the north-east. Agricultural land use is predominantly split between cereal production and permanent grassland for either dairy farming or cattle and sheep rearing. There are also small areas of oilseed, stock feed and vegetable cropping. The drainage has been severely disrupted by colliery subsidence on many occasions, and the land is often used for recreational open space or for keeping horses.

Large parts of the area have been affected by industry and development, and field patterns have often been lost, mostly resulting from 18th-century and later change. Where it survives, the field pattern is predominantly rectangular, and is defined by poorly managed hedges or post-and-wire fencing.

Agricultural land provides a year-round habitat for brown hares and farmland birds such as tree sparrow, corn bunting, skylark and grey partridge. The large number of field ponds, found scattered across the clay soils, are important as breeding sites for amphibians (such as great crested newt) and sustain a wide range of aquatic invertebrates.

Some isolated pockets of semi-natural habitat remain within this NCA, such as relict ancient woodlands and small areas of lowland raised bog. Red Moss and Highfield Moss Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) host a range of mixed-mire communities. Important grasslands include Stanley Bank Meadow SSSI and Wrightington Bar Pasture SSSI.

Extensive habitats have formed on many former industrial sites, particularly where undermining has resulted in the formation of subsidence flashes and ponds. A series of flashes between Wigan and Leigh now contribute to the area’s sense of place and offer an extensive mosaic of wildlife habitats. The flashes are particularly significant for their variety and quality of habitats, including open water, fen, swamp, woodland and grassland. These habitats are important for overwintering wildfowl, bittern, gadwall, breeding birds including willow tit, and several species of dragonfly. Water vole populations are found at many of the wetland sites, such as at Red Moss and the Wigan Flashes.

This is a heavily settled area based on mining and industry, with a scattered settlement pattern and close intermingling of housing and industry. Extensive urban centres have formed around the towns of Wigan, St Helens and Leigh. A series of smaller settlements has also developed – mainly situated within the lower-lying areas, including Hindley, Atherton, Tyldesley, Golborne, Ashton-in-Makerfield, Haydock and Newton-le-Willows. Important villages on the higher land to the west include Billinge and Orrell, with Standish to the north and Aspull to the east. Part of the new town of Skelmersdale lies within this area. Communications are busy, with a number of strategically important transport routes passing through, including the M6, M61, M58, A580 and mainline railways. Levels of tranquillity are generally low, reflecting the extensive mosaic of urban housing, industry and infrastructure.

Only 6 per cent of the Lancashire Coal Measures area is classified as being publicly accessible, and the public rights of way network covers 805 km. A series of cycle routes also pass through, providing access to and beyond the countryside within the NCA. This is supported significantly by both the Mersey Forest and Red Rose Forest. The whole NCA is targeted as a priority site for new woodland access. There are five Registered Parks and Gardens, and seven country parks that lie either wholly or partly within the NCA. These areas are complemented by a series of Local Nature Reserves (LNRs), which provide an important resource for wildlife, local access and recreation. The subsidence flashes, waterbodies and significant areas of reclaimed mineral workings are providing a new and emerging complex of open space. The canal network is used for activities such as coarse fishing and recreational boating, while the towpath is used for walking, cycling and – on some sections of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal – horse riding.

The landscape through time

Carboniferous-age rocks are present throughout most of the Lancashire Coal Measures area. The Upholland Ridge forms the western boundary: differential erosion has created a notable, upstanding, narrow-faulted ridge of resistant Millstone Grit. Coal Measures rocks underlie the majority of the area. These were laid down between 318 and 303 million years ago (during the Westphalian). The sediments forming these rocks were deposited on an extensive series of low-lying, swampy river deltas, which built out into shallow marine waters. Periodic flooding and building of these deltas resulted in the deposition of a series of coals (formed from the compressed remains of the luxuriant swamp vegetation) interspersed with thicker layers of shale, clay, sandstone and mudstone.

Fossils and the sequence of rocks in different strata indicate periods of deposition in both marine and freshwater conditions, showing repeated advances and retreats of the shallow sea over the deltas throughout the Upper Carboniferous period. Ravenhead Brickworks SSSI, for example, is an important site for Carboniferous stratigraphy, as well as both marine and non-marine bivalve fossils. Triassic-age sandstones underlie the south of the NCA, where it borders the Mersey Valley. The Coal Measures are mostly covered by glacial till, sands and gravels, with wind-blown sand deposits near St Helens.

The warmer, post-glacial climate led to wetter conditions, with increasing vegetation accompanied by localised waterlogging. Bog vegetation (in particular, sphagnum mosses) expanded and large deposits of peat accumulated on the lower and flatter areas within boulder clay-lined depressions and basins. Remnant examples of this can still be found in the area, for example at Red Moss SSSI near Horwich.

The large areas of peatland supplied important resources, such as peat and rough grazing, utilised by local communities. Between the 12th and 14th centuries, population pressure instigated the construction of small-scale drainage works to bring the drier edges of the peat into cultivation. This process was resumed on a far larger scale from the late 17th century. The low-lying peatlands were frequently drained for cultivation during the 18th century, leaving black peaty soils and a network of drainage ditches and drains.

Some ancient (pre-1600) enclosure survives, mainly to the north of Wigan, but most field patterns date from the 18th century or later, with numerous subsequent alterations. The area is now densely populated, following the rapid expansion of a few small villages during the industrial revolution. Earlier settlement patterns are mainly obscured by later developments, although some evidence remains in old village cores and the distribution of churches, moated sites and place names containing ‘green’ (such as Hindley Green and Collins Green). The older farming regimes are characterised by dispersed and loose courtyard farmsteads, typically dating from the 18th and 19th centuries, with two-storey combination barns.

The density of scattered settlement, and the expansion of the towns and villages in the Lancashire Coal Measures, reflects the development of industry between the 17th and 19th centuries. This began with the mining of shallow coal seams to power the Lancashire cotton industry, which has suffered almost complete extinction since the 1950s, and continued with the development of glass and copper production, and diverse manufacturing.

The introduction of the railways to the area in the 19th century massively increased the exploitation of the South Lancashire Coalfield, which continued to develop with fewer but deeper mines. This period saw expansion in industrial manufacturing and a major extension of the urban fabric, with large numbers of terraced properties and larger houses being built. Industrial changes created a concentration of colliers in towns such as Wigan and Worsley, and colliery villages such as Billinge and Tyldesley emerged. The siting of glass and copper industries on the Coal Measures steadily transformed a crossroads, chapel and inn into the centre of modern-day St Helens.

Traditional building materials are Lower and Middle Coal Measures sandstones, timber-frame (up to the 17th century) and brick (from the 18th century), with stone flag or Welsh slate roofs. However, very few examples of traditional vernacular architecture remain today. The densely populated towns and villages are dominated by rows of 19th century red-brick terraces and 20th century housing estates.

Deep coal mining continued until the end of the 20th century, with the last deep mine at Parkside closing in 1993. Substantial areas have been affected by mining, especially where mining subsidence has altered the pattern of drainage. The flashes and the waste heaps are today’s reminders of the previously significant Lancashire coalfields industrial history, which has so importantly contributed to its distinct cultural identity.

The loss of coal mining has left a legacy of dereliction, but has also created opportunities for restoration and the planned development of new green spaces for recreation and wildlife. Since the 1970s, work has been ongoing to reclaim much of the derelict land in the Lancashire Coal Measures area, left behind by the industrial past. New housing developments are being built on spoil heaps, replacing building stock that is nearing the end of its life. The current landscape is heavily influenced by motorways, major roads, new industrial and commercial buildings, and recent residential developments. The new town of Skelmersdale is located on the western boundary, partly within this NCA.

As a result of reclamation and environmental regeneration, an extensive network of community parks, open spaces, recreational facilities and green infrastructure is developing. In addition, the flashes formed by mining subsidence are establishing themselves as nationally important wetland habitats.