Haydock is situated in the North West of England. It is roughly half way between Liverpool and Manchester. It is quite by accident that it has one of the most accessible locations in the Country. Surrounded by dual carriageways and motorways, it is less than 2 miles from two different rail links and was originally adjacent to England’s first canal, the Sankey Brook Canal, which was constructed in 1757

Originally Haydock’s main asset lay under the ground. Coal was mined in the area, on a rather primitive basis, as early as in the 16^th Century. Haydock was one of the townships of the South-West Lancashire Coalfield. Other towns and villages in the area also had a thriving Coal Mining Industry, such as Leigh, Wigan, St. Helens, Whiston, Prescot, Billinge, Parr and Haigh.

In a region, which lacks any great pre mediaeval history, several Stone Age tools found within the Haydock area proves that primitive man once roamed around the local landscape. An old British road (pre Roman) bisected the township from west to east, running from Prescot to Lowton and a major Roman road linking Wilderspool (Warrington) to Coccium (Wigan) ran in a northerly direction along Haydock’s eastern boundary. Even as late as at the time of the Norman Conquest it seems that all of this part of South West Lancashire was either covered by dense deciduous forest, part of a marshy, peaty saturated bog or was of slightly higher, exposed moorland.

The name Haydock seems to be of Celtic origin and, in the language of that time, meant “barley place” or “the place where barley is grown”. In the 12^th Century Haydock was known as Heidoc (Heidd being barley). From this evidence it seems that the locals created small clearings within the forest, probably on the slightly higher ground where there was better drainage. Here they would form rather small settlements where they would live and cultivate their crops. At this time wild boar, deer and wolves roamed.

This forest clearance and the drainage of wetlands to produce land fit for farming had been a gradual and continuous process from pre historic times through to the modern era. For most of its early history agriculture would have been the only source of employment for its inhabitants. The abundance of wood from the forest provided man with his building materials and his fuel. It is only when the wood became more scarce that the value of Haydock’s coal becomes apparent. As coal outcropped at the surface in some areas, it would have been easy to collect, as it could have been simply dug out of the ground. Later bell pits would have been sunk followed by more advanced methods of coal mining.

Until the latter half of the 18^th Century, Haydock was a very small hamlet with two larger moated halls. One of these halls was Piele Hall and it was near this site that is reputedly the birthplace of Saint Edmund Arrowsmith (now the site of English Martyrs Church).

Saint Edmund, born Bryan, was hanged, drawn and quatered in 1628 during the religious persecution of that time. After training to be a priest at Douai he had returned home to attempt to keep the old faith alive. After the execution, his severed hand was recovered by a spectator, and for centuries it was treasured by the Gerard family. Now it is enshrined in the Church of St. Oswald and St. Edmund, in Ashton in Makerfield and is said to have healing properties.

It is only in the mid 18^th Century, in an era we know as the “Industrial Revolution”, that the exploitation of Haydock’s coal began in earnest. It was developments in coal mining techniques’ which was to revolutionise the industry. This led to an ability to excavate mines at deeper levels, an increase in yield, and the development of methods which was to make the industry a safer place to work.

Some of the earliest coal mines would have been bell pits. They were simply a vertical shaft dug to a depth which bisected a coal seam. A miner would work outward from the pit bottom digging out what coal he could reach. Bell pits were very dangerous places to work, and many miners perished. They were very small in size. The main hazards associated with this method of mining was the dangers from roof falls, flooding and a build up of poisonous gas, which could cause suffocation or an explosion. Quite often bell mines were not filled in correctly and left unmarked when they were abandoned and these can still cause problems today. Due to their limitations hundreds of bell pits were sunk in Haydock, sometimes within 100 metres of each other.

The invention and development of the coal-powered steam engine was to change coal mining forever. As mine shafts were sunk deeper, the stationary engine could be used to pump out water from underground coal workings, to improve ventilation, hence minimising the dangers of  build ups of poisonous gasses and to help transport both colliers and materials, both at the pit bottom and on the surface. Later the development of a reliable mobile steam engine, which could pull heavy loads would enhance the coal mining industry even further as new markets could be reached in an affordable manner. These developments would occur in the 1820s and coal was to fuel this industrialisation.

The cutting of the Sankey Navigation in 1757 was to give Haydock an advantage over the other mining communities. This was the World’s first canal linking St. Helens to the river Mersey at Widnes and it ran along Haydock’s southern boundary, bisecting both Haydock and Parr. It meant that the coal sold in Liverpool, which had previously been transported in small quantities along poor quality toll roads, could now be transported in bulk along the canal, at a lower cost.  Due to this increased accessibility the demand for the coal from the pits which bordered the canal was great as these had the lowest transport overheads.

The miner’s working conditions were appalling. They sometimes worked 16 hour shifts, their wages however were still low and many people lived in poverty. Families were large in size and both young boys and girls worked in the mines, in some cases as “drawers” for their fathers. Very few could read and write, and incidents of injury and even death were all too common. The life of a collier was a very hard one and fighting, gambling and drunkenness was all too common. Haydock folk developed a dialect of their own and they became known as “yickers” which was a derisory term meaning of simple mind.

During the 19^th Century pits by the names of Legh, Kings, Queens, Princess, Old Boston, Wood and Garswood Park were opened irreversibly scarring Haydock’s landscape as spoil and slag heaps grew. The village also had its fair share of mining disasters. The worst of these occurred on 7^th June 1878 at Wood pit when no fewer than 189 local men and boys died in an underground explosion. 26 miners were to die in an explosion at Queen Pit in 1868 and a further 57 perished at the same mine in 1869. These were the major fatal accidents, there were however, many individual incidents. Coal was Haydock’s prosperity, but it came at a heavy personal cost for those who mined it! Such hardships however, only enhanced its resident’s tight nit community spirit as the villagers coped as best they could.

The population of Haydock has gradually grown throughout the 19^th and 20^th Centuries. National census returns illustrate this trend:

In 1914, Haydock’s area consisted of 2,381 acres of land and 30 of water with a rateable value of £33,178.

In addition to the coal mining industry, steam locomotives were built at the Haydock Foundry between 1868 and 1887. The foundry was owned by the Evans family, who were the major mine owners in Haydock, having bought the pits from the Leigh family in 1833. The foundry also produced much of the engineering equipment for the mines.

Gradually the quality of life for Haydock’s inhabitants has improved. The Evans family developed the village into a thriving community. Richard Evans was responsible for building hundreds of houses for his workers, letting the dwellings at low rents. Every encouragement was given to householders to take a pride in their homes. Wallpaper and paints were supplied free upon application and prizes were given to those with the best kept gardens. Girls were not allowed underground following an Act of Parliament in 1842. Various laws regarding childhood labour and the numerous Education Acts increased the age in which boys could work in the mines, as well as generally increased literacy within the community. Advances in safety equipment and techniques together with employment legislation improved the miner’s working environment.

Haydock as a township and parish was formed on 30^th August 1864, out of the civil parish of Ashton in Makerfield. Schools and churches were built, as was a cottage hospital in 1886. The local Horse Racing Circuit was moved from Newton Common to its present home at Haydock Park, where it has gone on to become one of the finest horse racing venues in the country. The Haydock Colliery Band was in its day amongst the foremost in the North and its Male Voice Choir has acquired an international reputation. In 1882 horse drawn trams first served Haydock. These were replaced by steam trams in 1889, with the electric tram coming along in 1899. In 1900, Haydock was connected to the passenger rail network on the line which linked the original St. Helens Central Station to Lowton. In 1931 trolley busses replaced the trams and these have since been superseded by the motor bus in 1956.

At its peak, by 1900, 1,250,000 tons of coal was being raised. Since this date, its reliance on the coal mining industry has reduced, and Haydock has had to change to survive. As recently as 1945, people remember the long main road being criss-crossed with tracks for the colliery trains. Haydock was one long main road lined with little houses, with the mines scattered nearby. Now that all the pits have closed and Haydock is mainly a “dormitory settlement” with most of its inhabitants travelling out side its boundary to find work. An Industrial Estate was opened in 1956 alongside the East Lancashire Road, which has done well, but has only scratched the surface in trying to find employment for Haydock’s residents. A part of St. Helens since 1974, the township still has the same long winding road but Haydock has broadened. Now slag heaps have been flattened and numerous modern housing estates have been built to cater for its growing population and two new large hotels have opened near the race course, Haydock Post House and Haydock Thistle, to help cater for visitors to the area. Haydock’s hospital and railway station has gone the way of the mines, and have long since closed but with an evermore greater reliance on the motor car, it has had to use its accessibility for it to survive into the new Millennium.