was replaced by steam. Birkacre Colliery opened in 1880 to supply the works which employed more than 800 people in 1883. The works and colliery closed in the 1930s and many of the buildings demolished in the 1960s. The North Union Railway between Wigan and Preston opened in 1838. Coppull Colliery was owned by John Hargreaves. On 20 May 1852 was an explosion of firedamp, found to be caused by a lighted candle, 90 men suffering from chokedamp or burns escaped but 36 men and boys died. The colliery was renamed Hic Bibi Colliery in the 1860s. It had several owners and after it closed in the 1880s, fireclay was used at a brickworks started and operated by the Ellerbeck Collieries Company until it closed in 1959. Chisnall Hall Colliery on Coppull Moor was owned by Pearson and Knowles Coal and Iron Company in 1896 when it employed 135 underground and 48 surface workers. After 1850 Coppull grew rapidly, many rows of houses were built to house coal miners and factory workers. There were several collieries and deep shafts were sunk for the John Pit, Springfield Pit, Blainscough, Hic Bibi, Darlingtons, Ellerbeck Colliery, Birkacre and Pearsons mines. Mineral lines carried coal tubs to the main railway. Two large red brick spinning mills, Coppull Mill in 1906, and Mavis Mill were built in the early 20th century. Coppull Mill has been converted for other uses and is a Grade II listed building. The last surviving collieries were Chisnall Hall and Ellerbeck. Governance Coppull was a township in the ecclesiastical parish of St Wilfrid, Standish in the Hundred of Leyland. It was a member of the Chorley Poor Law Union formed in 1837 that took responsibility for the administration and funding of the Poor Law. Coppull became part of Chorley Rural Sanitary District from 1875 to 1894, and part of Chorley Rural District from 1894 to 1974. Since 1974, it is a civil parish and electoral ward in the Borough of Chorley. Economy Since the decline in manufacturing and the end of the coal industry, the village has been converted into a satellite town for commuters to Chorley and Wigan. Notable industries today include The Yew Tree Dairy, Morris's Bakery and Staveley's egg producer. Transport Intersecting the village is the B5251 road, which connects Chorley to the Wigan-Preston Road. The village's closest motorway connections are the M6 Junction 27 at Standish and