Annesley Colliery fire and afterdamp

Seven men died of carbon monoxide poisoning at Annesley Colliery while working to reach and remove the seat of a fire that had been sealed behind a stopping since May. Some were killed going back in after the others.

Cause

Carbon monoxide from a fire that had been sealed off in May and was being reopened. The men were working at the seat of the fire when they began to feel unwell and, instead of leaving at once, stayed — and could not then reach fresh air.

Contributing factors

Reopening a sealed fire while the workings were still charged with the products of combustion; no means of testing for carbon monoxide, which gives no warning a lamp will show; and the instinct of the men who went back in after their workmates.

What happened

On 16 May 1877 a fire was found in the main intake airway at Annesley, not far from the downcast shaft. The manager, Henry Lewis, went down and diverted the air passing down the heading, and the fire was cut off behind an airtight stopping without danger to the men still working. At the end of June he judged it desirable to get to the seat of the fire and remove it. An inspection was made and the work went well until 26 June, when the day shift reached the fire and began to feel unwell. They stayed rather than coming out, and were overcome. Three of the seven died attempting to bring the others out. The inquest opened on 3 July 1877 at the Musters Arms Inn, Annesley, and recorded the deaths as suffocation by afterdamp following an underground fire.

Rescue & recovery

Three of the dead were men who went in after their workmates rather than members of the original shift — a pattern repeated at almost every gas death in a nineteenth-century pit, and one of the reasons trained rescue brigades were eventually made a statutory requirement.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest was held at the Musters Arms Inn at Annesley on 3 July 1877. The Inspector of Mines reported six lives lost, though seven men are named in the appendix to the same report and seven are named on the memorial.

Memorials & commemoration

A commemorative stone at SK 50992 53663 in Annesley records the seven men lost in the aftermath of the fire, with their ages and family circumstances. It is recorded by the Nottinghamshire Historic Environment Record as MNT27856.

Recorded claims

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

• Seven men died: William Waplington, Thomas Ward, Samuel Abbott, Joseph Pickard, Thomas Webster, George Rye and Bradbury. The Durham Mining Museum record dates the deaths to 27 June 1877 and the inquest transcriptions agree; accounts drawn from the Inspector’s report place the incident on 26 June. (disputed) ^1,2,3
• The two surviving lists of the dead disagree on their ages. The memorial record gives Waplington 37, Bradbury 16, Ward 55, Abbott 19, Webster 45, Pickard 45 and Rye 26; the Nottinghamshire inquest transcriptions give Ward 36, Abbott 24, Pickard 29, Webster 50, Rye 27 and Bradbury 17, and name the last as Joseph rather than James. (disputed) ^2,3
• The Inspector of Mines reported that six lives were lost, but seven men are listed in the appendix to the same report, and seven are named on the memorial. (disputed) ^1,3
• The inquest on all seven was held on 3 July 1877 at the Musters Arms Inn, Annesley, and recorded the cause of death as suffocation by afterdamp following an underground fire. ²

Related terminology

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

• Afterdamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Arms Inn, Annesley, and recorded the deaths as suffocation by afterdamp following an underground fire.”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “Seven men died of carbon monoxide poisoning at Annesley Colliery while working to reach and remove the seat of a fire that had been…”

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Sources

1. (primary) Annesley Colliery (Nottinghamshire) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Annesley Colliery 1865–2000: record of fatalities and inquests — Healey Hero, Nottinghamshire Coalfield
3. (primary) MNT27856 — 1877 Annesley Colliery Disaster Memorial — Nottinghamshire Historic Environment Record

Record created: 6 September 2026 · Last researched: 6 September 2026