Also known Thistley Field or Knowle Colliery, it was linked to the Rochdale canal by a tram road. Andrew Knowles & Sons were working it between 1845 and 1850, with John Knowles & Co. 1851.
The date of closure is problematic. Belfield appears on the 1851 OS map, but the site had been cleared by the 1893 edition. Workings in the Royley Mine are dated from September 17th 1845 to January 1852 in 1852, and the Mountain Mine was abandoned in 1851. A small area of the Foot Mine, worked to the north of the shafts, was said to abandoned in 1874. Whether this marks a late submission of the plans to the Mines Inspector or a brief re-opening remains to be discovered.
Source:
- NMRS Records, Gazetteer of British Collieries
