Alps Quarry Fall of Stone, 1889

At around midday on 15 August 1889 three men were killed at Alps Quarry, Wenvoe, while boring a shot hole about ten feet from the quarry face. Large boulders came down on them and they fell some sixty feet to the quarry bottom, where they were crushed. The inquest at Cardiff returned a verdict of accidental death.

Cause

A fall of large boulders from the quarry face onto men boring a shot hole about ten feet away, which carried them some sixty feet to the quarry bottom.

What happened

The quarry was then at the height of its first working life, employing around two hundred men and supplying stone for the building of No. 1 Dock at Barry. At about midday on 15 August 1889 three men were boring a hole for blasting, some ten feet from the face. Large boulders fell on them and carried them to the bottom of the quarry, about sixty feet below, where they were crushed — two of them, according to the contemporary account, beyond recognition. One man was brought out of the fall alive but died about an hour later, of a fractured skull and its complications, shortly before reaching hospital. The two accounts of the event that this archive has been able to read do not agree on who the men were. One names them as Charles Harding, George Richards and James Wills, and it is Harding whom it records as being brought out alive; the other, reporting the inquest, gives George Richardson, Charles Cavill and James Wills. Only James Wills is common to both. Both versions are recorded here rather than one being chosen, and the disagreement is left open: it is the kind of thing a newspaper's first report and its later report of the inquest routinely differ on, and settling it needs the Western Mail of 16 August 1889 itself.

Rescue & recovery

One of the three was recovered alive from the fall and died about an hour afterwards, of a fractured skull and complications, shortly before arriving at hospital. No organised rescue operation is described in the sources consulted.

Investigation & inquiry

An inquest was held at Cardiff on the bodies of the three men. During the hearing the coroner rebuked the solicitor appearing for the relatives of the deceased over his manner and tone of voice in questioning witnesses. The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

• The three men killed were Charles Harding, George Richards and James Wills; Harding was brought out of the fall alive but died about an hour later of a fractured skull and complications, shortly before arriving at hospital. (disputed) ¹
• The inquest at Cardiff was held on the bodies of George Richardson, Charles Cavill and James Wills, killed by a fall of stone at Alps Quarry. (disputed) ²
• The men were boring a hole for blasting about 10 feet from the quarry face when large boulders fell on them and they fell some 60 feet to the bottom of the quarry and were crushed. ¹
• At the inquest the coroner rebuked the solicitor appearing for the relatives of the deceased for his manner and tone of voice in questioning the witnesses; the verdict was accidental death. ²

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

• Shot-firing (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…At about midday on 15 August 1889 three men were boring a hole for blasting, some ten feet from the face. Large boulders fell on them and…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Wenvoe Quarry — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Wales — newspaper accounts of nineteenth-century accidental deaths — Death On My Doorstep

Record created: 5 September 2026 · Last researched: 5 September 2026