MineArchiveDisasters
Explosions, floods, collapses and other major incidents at UK mines — including significant post-closure incidents in abandoned workings. Each record is researched to the same standard as a mine or terminology entry, not just a casualty count.
The 100 disasters most recently added, of 734, newest first.
| Disaster | Date | Type | Region | Fatalities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackwell A Winning Colliery explosion, 1895 At about four o'clock on the morning of Monday 11 November 1895 an explosion ran through the main haulage road of the Low Main seam at Blackwell A Winning Colliery, near Alfreton. Seven of the 23 men on the Sunday night repair shift were killed. A shot of gunpowder fired to remove a projection in the roadway had raised and ignited the coal dust. |
11 November 1895 | Explosion | Derbyshire | 7 |
| Kenmuirhill Colliery shaft accident, 1896 Early on 3 February 1896 the steam pump and pipes hung in a shaft that Dunn Brothers were sinking at Kenmuirhill Colliery, near Mount Vernon, gave way. Two men standing on the platform in the shaft fell about 300 feet and were killed. A third, at the bottom, was rescued alive after three hours. |
3 February 1896 | Winding / Shaft Accident | Glasgow | 2 |
| Hoyland Silkstone Colliery boiler house accident, 1907 On 23 November 1907 six men were taking down an old wall in an underground boiler house at Hoyland Silkstone Colliery, near Barnsley, when a girder collapsed and the roof came in. The fall broke open the boiler and scalded them all. Four died. The deputy in charge, Francis Chandler, whose son was among the dead, was awarded the Edward Medal of the first class for going back three times through the steam. |
23 November 1907 | Collapse / Roof Fall | South Yorkshire | 4 |
| Marston Hall Mine canal burst, 1907 On Sunday 21 July 1907 the flooded workings of the Marston Hall rock-salt mine gave way beneath the Trent and Mersey Canal near Marston, Cheshire. The canal bank burst, a chasm some sixty feet across opened, and half a mile of canal emptied through it. Nobody is recorded as killed, and the breach was repaired in just over two weeks. |
21 July 1907 | Collapse / Roof Fall | Cheshire | 0 |
| Berry Hill Colliery explosion, 1872 On 12 March 1872 an explosion of firedamp at Berry Hill Colliery, Fenton, killed six men. The inquest blamed the careless use of naked lights where gas was present. |
12 March 1872 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 6 |
| Dumbreck Colliery fire, 1938 On Sunday 30 January 1938 a fire broke out at a cable junction box in a haulage road of the No. 1 Pit at Dumbreck Colliery, Kilsyth. Smoke and fumes carried into Kelly's Section, more than a mile from the shaft, and nine men there died of carbon monoxide poisoning; one man escaped. |
30 January 1938 | Fire | North Lanarkshire | 9 |
| Swanwick Colliery cage accident, 1904 On 29 March 1904 a cage carrying six men down the shaft at Swanwick Colliery, Derbyshire, stuck fast in its wooden conductors. Three of the men were thrown out and fell more than seventy yards to the shaft bottom; the other three held on and were rescued about an hour later. |
1904 | Winding / Shaft Accident | Derbyshire | 3 |
| Mary Colliery firedamp explosion, 1908 Late on Sunday 2 February 1908 a series of four firedamp explosions in the Mynheer seam of the Fife Coal Company's Mary Pit at Lochore killed three young men, blown down the shaft from the seam bottom, and burned five others. The inquiry found the gas had been fired by a spark from the electric motor driving the fan. |
2 February 1908 | Explosion | Fife | 3 |
| Kiveton Park Colliery explosion, 1941 An explosion in the Barnsley seam at Kiveton Park Colliery at 10.30 a.m. on 24 June 1941 burned five men. Two had died by the time the Secretary for Mines told the House of Commons two days later, and the colliery's list of the dead shows five deaths from the accident, the last on 5 July. |
24 June 1941 | Explosion | South Yorkshire | 5 |
| Murton Colliery Polka Pit explosion, 1848 An explosion in the Polka Pit, Murton Colliery, near South Hetton, at about half past twelve on 15 August 1848 killed fifteen men and boys, sixteen by another count, among about a hundred underground. Candles were used throughout the mine, and the toll would have been higher had one workman not had the presence of mind to hold the survivors to the shaft. |
15 August 1848 | Explosion | County Durham | 15 |
| Usworth Colliery explosion, 1850 A large blower of gas burst from the Bensham seam in Wellington Pit, Usworth, on the morning of 5 June 1850 and ignited at a candle, killing twelve men and a boy. Nearly 160 people were underground, working by naked light, and the damage to the workings was slight. |
5 June 1850 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 13 |
| Crigglestone Colliery explosion, 1941 An explosion of firedamp in No. 1 West District of the Top Haigh Moor seam at Crigglestone Colliery, near Wakefield, on the evening of 29 July 1941 killed 22 men. The Inspector concluded that firedamp in a break had been ignited by a ripping shot fired two and a half hours earlier and burned unseen until it met an explosive mixture. |
29 July 1941 | Explosion | West Yorkshire | 22 |
| Birchrock Colliery explosion, 1909 At about 3.30 a.m. on 1 October 1909 a naked light left in No. 4 heading at Birchrock Colliery, Pontardulais, ignited gas that had built up after brattice sheeting was knocked down, and the explosion killed five men. The jury found the deaths accidental, due to an open lamp, and exonerated the fireman. |
1 October 1909 | Explosion | Swansea | 5 |
| Duke Pit explosion, 1844 An explosion of firedamp in Duke Pit, Whitehaven, on the afternoon of 11 January 1844 killed the eleven haggers who had just gone down for the night shift, and ten or eleven of the pit's horses. The pit, the Earl of Lonsdale's, was thought one of the best ventilated in the district, and miners were used to working with the tops off their safety lamps. |
11 January 1844 | Explosion | Cumbria | 11 |
| Oakley Colliery shaft fire, 1895 On 31 May 1895 the wooden lining of No. 3 Pit, the upcast shaft of Kinneddar (Oakley) Colliery near Dunfermline, caught fire from a ventilating fire lit at its foot that morning. When the lining burned out, flame and hot air were driven over men building stoppings in the Jersey seam; seven were burned and died within a day, and two more fell down No. 2 Pit in the confusion. |
31 May 1895 | Fire | Fife | 9 |
| Hill of Beath Colliery fire, 1901 An underground fire in the east section of the Lochgelly Splint and Parrot seam at Hill of Beath Colliery, Fife, killed seven men on 15 February 1901. The oversman and the fireman went to examine the stoppings that shut the fire off and did not return; a search party led by the manager walked into carbon monoxide in the return airway and most of it was lost. |
15 February 1901 | Fire | Fife | 7 |
| Lochhead Colliery fire and whitedamp, 1907 An underground fire that broke out near the Lochhead shaft in the old Duncan's workings on Sunday 29 December 1907 sent carbon monoxide through the workings to the Victoria shaft at West Wemyss. It killed the fireman John Kilpatrick and Andrew Morris and William Scott, who went down to look for him. George and James Dryburgh, who went down to rescue them, were awarded the Edward Medal. |
29 December 1907 | Fire | Fife | 3 |
| Elgin Colliery Balmule Pit accident, 1859 On 28 December 1859 four colliers were being drawn up the Balmule Pit of the Elgin Colliery near Dunfermline when stones fell on them from the side of the shaft. Two died at once and a third days later. The underground manager and the pit's roadsman were tried for culpable homicide and acquitted. |
28 December 1859 | Winding / Shaft Accident | Fife | 3 |
| Wellwood Colliery Derby Pit fire, 1884 On the night of Sunday 30 March 1884 fire broke out around the underground haulage engine of the Derby Pit at Wellwood Colliery, Dunfermline. Three men who went 500 yards in through the smoke to open a trap door and clear the air were suffocated; the search party that found them barely got back. |
30 March 1884 | Fire | Fife | 3 |
| Benarty Pit firedamp explosion, 1899 Early on Monday 22 May 1899 firedamp exploded in a heading of Benarty Pit, near Kelty, where two men had been repairing a roadway overnight. Joseph Hamilton was killed outright and Michael Casey died within a day; the fireman James Morton, his leg broken, crawled a hundred yards towards safety. |
22 May 1899 | Explosion | Fife | 2 |
| Minto Colliery firedamp explosion, 1920 A firedamp explosion in the Five Feet seam of No. 2 Pit, Minto Colliery, Lochgelly, at about 4 a.m. on 28 May 1920 burned five men, three of them seriously; the brusher William Galloway died in hospital within days. Gas that had accumulated was ignited by a naked lamp. |
28 May 1920 | Explosion | Fife | 1 |
| South Garesfield Colliery carbon monoxide accident, 1929 On 17 May 1929 the deputy and shotfirer Richard Lowes and two pony drivers, William Matthew Malcolm, 14, and Joseph Taylor, 16, died of carbon monoxide in the Victoria seam of South Garesfield Colliery after blasting in a district with almost no air. Rescue parties saved others and five men received the Edward Medal. |
17 May 1929 | Gas / Asphyxiation | Tyne and Wear | 3 |
| St Helen's Colliery explosion, 1922 An explosion of firedamp in Ditchburn's Level in the Ten Quarters seam of No. 3 Pit, St Helen's Colliery, Workington, at about noon on 27 November 1922 killed six men. The inquiry found that a shot fired by the deputy James Johnstone, an unnecessary and overcharged top brushing shot, had emitted the flame that ignited gas. |
27 November 1922 | Explosion | Cumbria | 6 |
| St Helen's Colliery explosion, 1888 An explosion at No. 3 Pit, St Helen's Colliery, a mile north of Workington, on the evening of 19 April 1888 killed 30 men. It followed a fire that began in the morning when a shot at the face of Hogg's brow ignited firedamp, and the Inspector concluded that coal dust carried the blast down the engine dip to the downcast shaft. |
19 April 1888 | Explosion | Cumbria | 30 |
| Hartford Colliery cage accident, 1909 On the morning of 20 July 1909 four men lowered down the shaft at Hartford Colliery, Cramlington, fell out of the cage to the bottom and were killed: the fitters' labourers Anthony Clarke and William Dickson, the fitter Frederick Robinson and the electrical engineer John Sturdy. |
20 July 1909 | Winding / Shaft Accident | Northumberland | 4 |
| Newburgh Colliery gas explosion, 1914 A gas explosion at about 10.35 p.m. on Sunday 16 August 1914 in a pair of headings at Newburgh Colliery killed the chargeman Samuel Ainsley and Stephen Hume, who died the following day, and slightly injured a third man. |
16 August 1914 | Explosion | Northumberland | 2 |
| Stargate Colliery explosion, 1826 A firedamp explosion at about 3 a.m. killed 38 men and boys, twenty men and eighteen boys, as they went down to the Brockwell seam at Stargate Pit; it left nineteen widows and sixty-two children without fathers. |
30 May 1826 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 38 |
| Lowca Colliery John Pit explosion, 1838 An explosion of firedamp at John Pit, said to have been ignited by the light of the overman making his inspection, killed forty men and boys waiting at the pit bottom and in the shaft; the fireman and deputy afterwards went down alone before the men. |
24 October 1838 | Explosion | Cumbria | 40 |
| Lowca Colliery explosion, 1946 An explosion of firedamp in the mechanised Main Band workings under the Solway Firth killed fifteen men in No. 2 District; the official inquiry found the district's ventilation inadequate and concluded that an overman had opened a flame safety lamp in an inflammable mixture. |
9 December 1946 | Explosion | Cumbria | 15 |
| Lea Green Colliery shaft sinking explosion, 1893 At 4 a.m. on 14 October 1893 a naked candle fell from the side of a shaft being sunk at Lea Green Colliery and ignited an accumulation of gas, killing the sinker Evan Jones and badly burning seven others. The inquest criticised the sinking operations, the Inspector prosecuted the company and the manager, and the magistrates cleared both. |
14 October 1893 | Explosion | Lancashire | 1 |
| Lea Green Colliery explosion, 1888 A gas explosion in the Potato Delf mine at Lea Green Colliery, Sutton, on 4 May 1888 killed William Lunt at once and two more men, Christopher Tharratt and Matthew Mercer, who died of their injuries nine and ten months later. Naked candles were in use, although the Inspector of Mines had advised the colliery to use safety lamps. |
4 May 1888 | Explosion | Lancashire | 3 |
| Alexandra Colliery overwinding accident, 1879 On the morning of 22 October 1879 the engineman at Alexandra Colliery, St Helens, started the winding engine the wrong way as a cage of nine men was being sent down, and the cage rose into the headgear and fell to the bottom of the shaft, killing seven. The Inspector advocated detaching hooks and the coroner's jury recommended them. |
22 October 1879 | Winding / Shaft Accident | Merseyside | 7 |
| Hollingwood Colliery lamp cabin fire, 1857 A fire in an underground lamp cabin at the Staveley works' Hollingwood mine in November 1857 killed twelve men, among them the manager, D. Cooper. Brick stoppings built to smother it exploded the accumulated methane, and the dip workings were then flooded from the Chesterfield Canal, drowning 90 acres of coal. |
November 1857 | Fire | Derbyshire | 12 |
| Lindsay Colliery explosion, 1957 Shortly before four o'clock on the morning of 14 December 1957 firedamp was ignited on the No. 3 Unit of the Glassee seam at Lindsay Colliery, Kelty, and the explosion was carried along the intake gate by coal dust. Nine men were killed and eleven injured. Sir Harold Roberts's public inquiry found that the gas had been lit by a match struck to smoke a cigarette in a locked safety-lamp mine, that it had gathered in the waste because the air was too slow to clear it, and that smoking underground was common knowledge. |
14 December 1957 | Explosion | Fife | 9 |
| Sacriston Colliery inrush, 1903 On Monday 16 November 1903 water broke into the 3rd West district of the Busty seam at Sacriston Colliery in County Durham and drowned two hewers in their working places. When the district was pumped out a third man, Robert Richardson, was found alive on the Friday, standing on his coal tub, where he had spent ninety-two hours in the dark surrounded by flood water. The jury found accidental drowning and no blame attaching to the management, and the Royal Humane Society gave silver medals to six of the colliery's officials. |
16 November 1903 | Flooding / Inundation | County Durham | 2 |
| Garth Merthyr Colliery overwinding, 1897 At about five o'clock on the evening of Friday 11 June 1897 a cage bringing the day shift up the Garth shaft at Maesteg was wound past the landing into the headgear; the rope pulled out of its socket and the cage fell to the bottom, killing all nine men and boys in it. Three of the nine were fourteen. The winding engine had no automatic apparatus to prevent overwinding, and the Inspector declined to recommend that detaching hooks be made compulsory. |
11 June 1897 | Winding / Shaft Accident | Bridgend | 9 |
| Gelli Colliery explosion, 1883 An explosion in the Globe, the steam coal pit at Gelli in the Rhondda Fawr, on 21 August 1883 burned twenty-one men, five of whom died. The jury found accidental death but held that the ventilation was defective and that the management had been negligent, and when a widow sued, the court held that no compensation was payable where the plaintiff had contributed to the accident. |
21 August 1883 | Explosion | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 5 |
| Water Haigh Colliery scaffold collapse, 1911 On Tuesday 1 February 1911 a scaffold in No. 1 shaft at Water Haigh, then still being sunk, gave way and the foreman joiner Herbert Pickersgill fell three hundred feet to his death. Three other men on the scaffold escaped and were got out by the assistant undermanager. Pickersgill had been one of the rescuers in the shaft collapse of the previous November, and eleven weeks after his death the King awarded him the Edward Medal of the Second Class for it; the medal was given to his widow. |
1 February 1911 | Winding / Shaft Accident | West Yorkshire | 1 |
| Barony Colliery shaft collapse, 1962 On 8 November 1962 No. 2 shaft at Barony Colliery, west of Auchinleck in Ayrshire, collapsed as the ground around it caved in, burying four men 1,300 feet down and bringing the headframe into the shaft mouth. The bodies were never recovered, the colliery stopped producing, and it took a campaign and a new shaft to reopen it four years later. |
8 November 1962 | Collapse / Roof Fall | East Ayrshire | 4 |
| Long Grass Quarry cliff fall, Tintagel, 1886 Three men drilling the face of Long Grass Quarry, on the cliffs between Tintagel and Trebarwith in north Cornwall, were carried into the sea in 1886 when the rock they were working snapped off beneath them. |
1886 | Collapse / Roof Fall | Cornwall | 3 |
| Water Haigh Colliery shaft collapse, November 1910 Six months after the shaft disaster of May 1910, the sides of No. 1 shaft at Water Haigh gave way again on 17 November 1910. Four of the ten men at the bottom were caught by the falling shale, timber and iron rings: one was killed outright and another died of his injuries in Leeds Infirmary. |
17 November 1910 | Winding / Shaft Accident | West Yorkshire | 2 |
| Glanmwrwg Colliery inrush, 1899 On the morning of Saturday 9 December 1899 a collier at Glanmwrwg Colliery, Llangennech, holed into old flooded workings. One of the two men caught at the deepest level was drowned; the other hung by one arm from a roof timber for nearly eleven hours until three of his fellow workmen swam in and pulled him out. |
9 December 1899 | Flooding / Inundation | Carmarthenshire | 1 |
| Denby Hall Colliery roof fall, 1951 On 9 May 1951 a fall of roof at Denby Hall Colliery, near Denby in Derbyshire, killed five men. |
9 May 1951 | Collapse / Roof Fall | Derbyshire | 5 |
| Paradise Colliery explosion, 1795 On 24 April 1795 an explosion at the Paradise colliery at Benwell, west of Newcastle, killed eleven men. |
24 April 1795 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 11 |
| Water Haigh Colliery explosion, 1933 On the evening of 27 July 1933 a shot fired in the Top Silkstone seam at Water Haigh Colliery ignited firedamp; three of the six men burned in the explosion died of their injuries. |
27 July 1933 | Explosion | West Yorkshire | 3 |
| Water Haigh Colliery shaft disaster, 1910 During the sinking of Water Haigh Colliery at Woodlesford, near Leeds, the sides of No. 1 shaft collapsed on the morning of 7 May 1910, burying and killing six men before the pit had raised any coal. |
7 May 1910 | Winding / Shaft Accident | West Yorkshire | 6 |
| Plumbley Colliery drownings On the evening of 16 March 1895 three children fell through the ice on a pond at Plumbley Colliery, near Eckington in Derbyshire, and drowned; Alfred Williamson, an engineman at the colliery, died trying to save them. |
16 March 1895 | Other | South Yorkshire | 4 |
| Roachburn Colliery inrush, 1908 About noon on 28 January 1908 the face of a working driven up to the outcrop under Denton Fell gave way, and roughly 90,000 cubic yards of saturated peat, sand, clay and water poured into Roachburn Colliery near Hallbankgate. About 120 men were underground; all but three got out. Two of the three were officials who had gone back for the third. No body was recovered, so no inquest could be held, and the Home Office ordered a formal investigation instead. |
28 January 1908 | Flooding / Inundation | Cumbria | 3 |
| Bedlington Colliery fall of stone, 1878 On 20 September 1878 two deputies were killed by a fall of stone at Bedlington Colliery, in Northumberland. |
20 September 1878 | Collapse / Roof Fall | Northumberland | 2 |
| Burnhope Colliery winding rope break, 1893 On the night of 23 November 1893 the winding rope broke as the last cage of shifters was being lowered down the Fell Shaft at Burnhope Colliery, in County Durham, and four men were dashed to the bottom and killed. |
23 November 1893 | Winding / Shaft Accident | County Durham | 4 |
| Bearpark Colliery fall of stone, 1902 On 20 June 1902 a chock drawer and a young timber leader were killed by a large fall of stone while repairing an old roadway at Bearpark Colliery, near Durham. |
20 June 1902 | Collapse / Roof Fall | County Durham | 2 |
| Backworth Colliery shaft accident, 1857 On 27 April 1857 three miners fell to the bottom of the shaft at Backworth Colliery, in Northumberland, when the bow of the basket they were ascending in came away from the hook. |
27 April 1857 | Winding / Shaft Accident | Tyne and Wear | 3 |
| Backworth Colliery explosion, 1820 On 29 March 1820 two hewers were fatally burned by an explosion of gas fired at a candle at Backworth Colliery, in Northumberland. |
29 March 1820 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 2 |
| Annesley Colliery runaway tubs, 1907 On 15 August 1907 two datallers were run down by a runaway train of tubs at Annesley Colliery, in Nottinghamshire, as they walked to their work; both died the next day. |
15 August 1907 | Haulage / Transport | Nottinghamshire | 2 |
| Agecroft Colliery roof fall, 1896 On 6 March 1896 two colliers of the same name were killed by a fall of roof at Agecroft Colliery, near Pendlebury in Lancashire. |
6 March 1896 | Collapse / Roof Fall | Greater Manchester | 2 |
| Agecroft Colliery roof fall, 1853 On 1 December 1853 two men were killed by a fall of roof at Agecroft Colliery, near Pendlebury in Lancashire. |
1 December 1853 | Collapse / Roof Fall | Greater Manchester | 2 |
| Agecroft Colliery shot-firing accident, 1859 On 6 September 1859 two colliers were fatally burned at Agecroft Colliery, near Pendlebury in Lancashire, by a heavily charged shot that blew out its stemming. |
6 September 1859 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 2 |
| Agecroft Colliery fire suffocations, 1891 On 2 December 1891 four men were suffocated by gases while shutting off an underground fire at Agecroft Colliery, near Pendlebury in Lancashire. |
2 December 1891 | Gas / Asphyxiation | Greater Manchester | 4 |
| Usworth Colliery gassing, 1940 On 5 April 1940 two fillers were accidentally gassed and killed at Usworth Colliery, in County Durham. |
5 April 1940 | Gas / Asphyxiation | Tyne and Wear | 2 |
| Trimdon Grange Colliery boiler explosion, 1857 On Sunday 20 September 1857 a surface boiler burst at Trimdon Grange Colliery, in County Durham, killing two young workers, one of them a boy of sixteen. |
20 September 1857 | Machinery | County Durham | 2 |
| Wheatley Hill Colliery shaft accident, 1879 On 8 December 1879 two shaftmen fell about a hundred yards from a cradle in the upcast shaft at Wheatley Hill Colliery, in County Durham, and were killed. |
8 December 1879 | Winding / Shaft Accident | County Durham | 2 |
| Wheatley Hill Colliery explosion, 1876 On 26 September 1876 an explosion of gas killed four at Wheatley Hill Colliery, in County Durham, and they were buried together at Thornley. |
26 September 1876 | Explosion | County Durham | 4 |
| Usworth Colliery explosion, 1855 On 24 August 1855 two experienced deputy overmen were killed by an explosion of gas at Usworth Colliery, in County Durham. |
24 August 1855 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 2 |
| Usworth Colliery fall of ground, 1897 On 6 July 1897 a chock drawer and a deputy were buried and killed by a sudden fall of ground on the engine-plane landing at Usworth Colliery, in County Durham. |
6 July 1897 | Collapse / Roof Fall | Tyne and Wear | 2 |
| Usworth Colliery boiler explosion, 1891 On 11 April 1891 an underground boiler exploded at Usworth Colliery, in County Durham, killing three men outright and a fourth later, after years of known corrosion had been left unmeasured. |
11 April 1891 | Machinery | Tyne and Wear | 4 |
| Eppleton Colliery tubs accident, 1881 On 6 January 1881 two boys were killed at Eppleton Colliery, near Hetton-le-Hole in County Durham, when the full tubs they were riding jumped the rails and up-ended on them. |
6 January 1881 | Haulage / Transport | Tyne and Wear | 2 |
| Eppleton Colliery fall of stone, 1878 On 18 December 1878 two young colliers were killed by a fall of stone in the Hutton Seam at Eppleton Colliery, near Hetton-le-Hole in County Durham. |
18 December 1878 | Collapse / Roof Fall | Tyne and Wear | 2 |
| Eppleton Colliery gas deaths, 1895 On 13 December 1895 a deputy walked through a fence into a place known to be foul with gas at Eppleton Colliery, near Hetton-le-Hole in County Durham, and he, a putter and a hewer who went in to save them were all overcome and died. |
13 December 1895 | Gas / Asphyxiation | Tyne and Wear | 3 |
| Ladyshore Colliery inundation, 1835 On 10 July 1835 water from the River Croal broke into the Fletchers' Ladyshore Colliery at Little Lever, near Bolton, and drowned ten men and seven boys. |
1835 | Flooding / Inundation | Greater Manchester | 17 |
| Gibfield Colliery explosion, 1850 On 11 February 1850 colliers at Fletcher's Gib Field Pit, Atherton, found gas in one of the bays and tried to sweep it out with their jackets. It fired at a candle that had been left burning, killing five and burning others. |
1850 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 5 |
| Lyme Pit explosion, 1930 At about 6.15 p.m. on 26 February 1930 a shot fired in the Wigan Four Foot seam of the No. 2 Lyme Pit, Haydock, ignited firedamp on a longwall conveyor face. Five men were killed outright and eight more died of their burns; it was the worst disaster in the Haydock Collieries since Wood Pit in 1878. |
1930 | Explosion | Lancashire | 13 |
| Old Boston Pit shaft-sinking explosion, 1900 At about 5 a.m. on 29 June 1900 gas burst from the floor of the main shaft being sunk at Richard Evans and Company's Old Boston Colliery, Haydock, and caught fire at the sinkers' candles. All ten men at the bottom were burned; eight died. |
1900 | Explosion | Lancashire | 8 |
| Haydock explosion, 1832 In 1832 a second explosion of inflammable air in a Haydock coal pit killed six, all of them sixteen or younger. They were buried together at St Thomas's, Ashton-in-Makerfield. |
1832 | Explosion | Lancashire | 6 |
| Haydock explosion, 1831 In May 1831 an explosion of 'inflammable air' in a coal pit at Haydock killed ten or more colliers, most of them children. They were buried at St Thomas's, Ashton-in-Makerfield, between 18 and 24 May. |
May 1831 | Explosion | Lancashire | 10 |
| Wallsend Colliery 'Dark Wall' explosion, 1786 In 1786 six men were killed by an explosion in the B Pit at Wallsend while cutting a communication with the A Pit through firedamp. The drive, 95 yards long, was afterwards known as the 'Dark Wall', because men chose to cut it in total darkness rather than by the light of a steel mill. |
1786 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 6 |
| Wallsend Colliery C Pit explosion, 1803 In September 1803 an explosion described at the time as a 'heavy fire' swept the bords of the C Pit at Wallsend Colliery, killing thirteen men and boys and burning twenty others. Most died of suffocation. |
September 1803 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 13 |
| Haydock Colliery explosion, 1850 In November 1850 foul air fired in a pit of R. Evans and Company at Haydock, killing ten men and boys, most of them drawers, and burning others. The men often worked with naked candles against orders. |
November 1850 | Explosion | Lancashire | 10 |
| Henwaun Colliery explosion, 1882 On Monday morning, 27 February 1882, gas exploded in the Three Quarter coal at J. Lancaster and Company's Henwaun Colliery, Blaina, killing the fireman and the night men he had taken in with him before examining the workings. |
1882 | Explosion | Blaenau Gwent | 5 |
| Fochriw Colliery explosion, 1865 On Wednesday morning, 10 May 1865, firedamp exploded in the stall of James Jones at the Dowlais Iron Company's new pit at Fochriw, one of the deepest in the district. Fourteen men and boys were burned, some so badly they were carried home on planks; a boy of fifteen died. |
1865 | Explosion | Caerphilly | 1 |
| William Pit No. 6 Drift explosion, 1907 At about 1.50 p.m. on 26 November 1907 an explosion in No. 6 or 'Taffy's' Drift, a stone drift being driven under the sea at the Whitehaven Colliery Company's William Pit, killed five men and injured seven. |
1907 | Explosion | Cumbria | 5 |
| Mynydd Newydd Colliery explosion, 1845 Shortly after six on Saturday morning, 17 May 1845, an explosion at the Swansea Coal Company's Mynydd Newydd Colliery, Fforest-fach, killed boys aged twelve to seventeen. A boy was believed to have taken a naked light into a heading marked as unsafe to fetch a shovel. |
1845 | Explosion | Swansea | 5 |
| Hurlet Colliery explosion, 1805 At about nine on the morning of Monday 22 April 1805 firedamp exploded in a pit of the Hurlet coal work near Paisley. Four men were blown out of the shaft; thirteen below were found dead, and the father of one of them was suffocated going down to save them. |
1805 | Explosion | Renfrewshire | 18 |
| Albion Colliery explosion, 1906 At about 3.10 p.m. on Saturday 10 November 1906, after the day shift had ended, an explosion of firedamp in C district of the No. 1 seam at the Albion Colliery, Cilfynydd, killed repairers and officials at work there. It was put down to a spark from an electric lamp relighter. |
1906 | Explosion | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 6 |
| Naval Colliery Ely Pit cage accident, 1909 On the morning of 27 August 1909 a double-deck cage carrying 26 men down the Ely Pit of the Naval Colliery at Penygraig ran out of control when the reversing gear of the winding engine broke. It crashed into the sump, the ascending cage was pulled into the headgear, and the rope fell 525 yards down the shaft onto the wrecked cage. |
1909 | Winding / Shaft Accident | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 5 |
| Lower Duffryn Colliery explosion, 1860 On 6 November 1860 an explosion in the Nine Feet vein of the Lower Duffryn Colliery, near Mountain Ash, killed twelve men and boys. It was the third fatal explosion at the colliery in a few years. |
1860 | Explosion | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 12 |
| Lower Duffryn Colliery explosion, 1858 At about two in the morning of 25 February 1858 an explosion of firedamp in the upper colliery of Thomas Powell's Lower Duffryn, at Cwmpennar near Mountain Ash, killed nineteen men and boys. |
1858 | Explosion | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 19 |
| Ince Hall Arley Pit explosion, 1854 At half-past two on Saturday 18 February 1854, eleven months after its first disaster, the Arley Pit of the Ince Hall Coal and Cannel Company at Wigan exploded again during a storm, killing 89. Thirty-seven of the dead were burnt; the rest were suffocated by afterdamp. |
1854 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 89 |
| Ince Hall Arley Pit explosion, 1853 In March 1853 gas exploded at the bottom of the upcast shaft of the Ince Hall Coal and Cannel Company's Arley Pit at Wigan, after the ventilating furnace had been damped down for repairs and relit. About fifty men and boys were killed. |
1853 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 50 |
| Parkhouse Colliery explosion, 1882 At 10 a.m. on 7 November 1882 an explosion of firedamp in the Clay Cross Company's Parkhouse (No. 7) Pit at Danesmoor, Derbyshire, killed 45 men and boys. The pit was worked by candlelight and had a name as one of the safest in the district; the blast blew off the headstocks and put out the ventilating furnace. |
1882 | Explosion | Derbyshire | 45 |
| Newbottle Colliery Margaret Pit inrush, 1885 On 3 June 1885 men holing in the Maudlin Seam of the Margaret Pit at Newbottle broke into the abandoned workings of the old Elizabeth Pit, releasing an inrush of water and noxious gas. The water flooded the workings, but it was the gas that killed: at least twelve men died before they could reach the shaft. |
3 June 1885 | Flooding / Inundation | Tyne and Wear | 12 |
| Newbottle Colliery Dolly Pit explosion, 1824 On 19 November 1824 an explosion in the Dolly Pit at Newbottle Colliery killed eleven men, eight of them overmen and wastemen. The blast tore out the brattice dividing the shaft and dropped it to the bottom. |
1824 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 11 |
| Newbottle Colliery Elizabeth Pit gas disaster, 1821 On 19 October 1821 six men died in the Elizabeth Pit of Newbottle (Nesham's) Colliery when a brattice built up against old workings broke and gas came through. Their candles went on burning in it and gave no warning. |
1821 | Gas / Asphyxiation | Tyne and Wear | 6 |
| Newbottle Colliery boiler explosion, 1815 In the summer of 1815 a new boiler at Newbottle Colliery, raising steam for the engine that drew loaded waggons up the colliery railway, burst on its first day in use while a crowd stood watching. Eleven were killed and over fifty wounded or scalded. |
1815 | Machinery | Tyne and Wear | 11 |
| Newbottle Colliery Success Pit explosion, 1815 At about four in the afternoon of 2 June 1815 an explosion in the Success Pit of Newbottle Colliery, the Nesham family's colliery near Houghton-le-Spring, killed 57 of the 72 people in the pit. |
1815 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 57 |
| Heaton Main Colliery inrush, 1815 On 3 May 1815 water from the flooded workings of the old Heaton Banks colliery broke into Heaton Main Colliery, near Newcastle, and closed the bottom of its only shaft. Seventy-five men and boys were trapped. The pit took nine months to drain, and the first body was not reached until January 1816. |
1815 | Flooding / Inundation | Tyne and Wear | 75 |
| Lewis Merthyr (Coedcae) Colliery explosions, 1882 On Saturday 11 February 1882, pay day, with the Coedcae pit of the Lewis Merthyr Navigation Collieries empty, two men repairing the shaft were burnt to death by a fire on the cage. A second explosion, as an exploring party went down, killed four more, among them the banksman. |
1882 | Explosion | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 6 |
| Blantyre Colliery No. 3 Pit overwinding, 1878 At 3.25 p.m. on 5 March 1878, four months after the great Blantyre explosion, the cage bringing seven men up No. 3 pit at William Dixon's Blantyre Colliery was wound past the landing into the cross beams. Six fell back down the shaft and were killed; one clung on and survived. |
1878 | Winding / Shaft Accident | South Lanarkshire | 6 |
| Apedale Colliery Sladderhill No. 3 Pit explosion, 1891 During the afternoon shift of 2 April 1891 a blown-out shot of gelatine dynamite fired gas in the Bullhurst seam of the Sladderhill No. 3 Pit, Apedale, and coal dust carried the explosion through the district. Eleven died, most of them boys and young men. |
1891 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 11 |
| Silverdale Colliery Sheriff Pit explosion, 1876 At about 3 p.m. on 6 April 1876 a shot fired in the Seven Feet seam of Stanier's Sheriff Pit at Silverdale ignited a little gas and a quantity of coal dust in the dry workings, killing five colliers, among them the fireman Thomas Wright. |
1876 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 5 |
| Wallsend Colliery A Pit explosion, 1821 On 23 October 1821 the A Pit of Wallsend ('Russell's') Colliery exploded while 56 men and boys were working the Bensham seam close round the shaft. The blast destroyed the brattice that divided the single shaft into upcast and downcast, cutting off the air; 52 died, most suffocated, and only four survived. |
1821 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 52 |