Hic Bibi colliery opened in the 1860’s. It wasoriginally called Coppull Hall Colliery, started
by Thomas Rymer Bourne. There were 2 pits as can be seen on the map from 1928.
The Sidings Schedule shows that the
connection serving the Colliery was put in under an agreement between Bourne and the London and North Western Railway dated 9th September 1864.
The colliery and brickworks did not require an extensive locomotive stock. There was an engine shed and one locomotive engine: Lilleshall.
A number of companies acquired the mining
during the next decade including
the Red Moss Coal and Canal Co. Ltd and the Hic Bibi Coal and Canal Co. Ltd (1876) but the latter firm was declared bankrupt in May 1878. Ellerbeck Colleries Co. Ltd
was formed in 1880 to take over. The mines
continued to function until November 1887
when they were abandoned.
Clay extraction at the brickworks began in the late 1880’s and was continued by the Ellerbeck Collieries Co. Ltd through to the closure of the brickworks in 1959. After the brickworks’ closure practically all of the structures were demolished and the site was left in a semi-derelict state. Very few features associated with the site’s
industrial history remain. There is some
winding gear; one small brick building which was the brickworks’ electricity sub-station and the partial remains of a light railway track.
Taken from Chorley Council info.