Heroic 'broo-wenches' who scandalised Victorian Britain by working NAKED to help them cope in the intense heat of the collieries and wearing trousers are pictured in newly-unearthed black and white portraits

Heroic 'broo-wenches' who scandalised Victorian Britain by working NAKED to help them cope in the intense heat of the collieries and wearing trousers are pictured in newly-unearthed black and white portraits 

Fascinating images have revealed the heroic actions of Britain's 'broo-wenches' who scandalised Victorian society by working in trousers and even naked while mining underground.

An unknown pit brow woman in Wigan, circa 1867 to 1888

A drawing of a half-naked girl dragging a loaded corf along a low mine passage near Halifax in Yorkshire, sometime in 1842. The engraving was used to illustrate a report on the employment of women in mines, that saw them banned from working underground that same year. Many expressed disgust at the idea of women working while partially clothes

Young looking pit brow girls just before starting work, Wigan, 1893. Several decades before, women and boys under under 10 years old were banned from working underground, meaning all the little girls became broo lasses, working on the surface above the mines

A trio of women are shown in their traditional uniform with a sieve

Shevington Colliery near Wigan, photographed in 1863. Pictured are a group of women working at the surface. They worked on the pit bank (pictured) at the shaft top, where they were tasked with picking stones from the coal after it was hauled to the surface

When a Victorian newspaper ran a front page picture of a Wigan colliery girl in her uniform, it sent shockwaves through Britain.

This had followed a report containing sketches of half-naked women working underground alongside men, a report that resulted in calls for women to be kicked out of the searing hot coal pits.

The 'unladylike' image disgusted many, but the Northern working-class women had their supporters too.

One such man was Arthur Munby, whose fascinating collection of images of the Pit Brow Women have recently been unearthed.

The striking pictures show the heroic women in their working gear. A uniform that consisted of a headscarf to shield their hair from dirt, a long ankle-length skirt and most shockingly of all, trousers underneath.

Munby, an enthusiastic supporter of working women in the 19th century Britain, would make frequent trips to Wigan and other industrial towns to document his heroines.

However, as photography was a new invention in the mid 19th-century, it wasn't straight forward.

He would have to convince the labouring women into a nearby photographer's studio where they would have to pose very still for up to several seconds whilst the exposure was made.

This makes for interesting pictures that show rugged, weather-worn women posing in front of a back drop that was intended to be used for the middle-classes posing in their Sunday best.

The women, also known as broo-wenches, pose with giant spades and other working equipment such as lanterns, baskets and flasks.

In 1842, there had been outrage when it had been discovered that women around the country had been working underground in coal pits half-naked. This of course, being due to the extreme temperature in the pit.

They were eventually banned from underground work, but continued to work on the surface.

This led to a further inquisition in 1865, when the miners of Northumberland and Durham petitioned Parliament on a variety of matters including surface labour by women

After women were banned from going underground, they took to carrying out work on the surface. Here they would load carts, sort coal from stone and haul materials from the pit face. This pit brow women are pictured alongside a man at Rode Bridge Pits, Wigan in 1865

They asserted 'that the practice of employing females on or about the pit banks of mines and collieries is degrading to the sex, leads to gross immorality, and stands as a foul blot on the civilisation and humanity of the kingdom.'