Barrow Colliery shaft accident, 1874

Five masons and sinkers drowned when a scaffold platform collapsed and dropped them 30 feet into the flooded sump of a shaft then being sunk for the new Barrow pits at Bryncethin, after a cast-iron crab winch failed.

Cause

A cast-iron crab winch, part of the winding gear supporting the sinking platform, broke: cracks in the casting had widened under strain, letting the drum run free and tipping the stage.

What happened

The colliery, the property of the Barrow Steam Coal Company, was sinking new shafts to reach steam-coal seams that lay beneath the shallow drift workings already exploiting the Red Ash house-coal seam in the area. Four masons and three labourers (sinkers) were working on the brick casing of the shaft when the platform on which they stood gave way, tipped by a broken crab winch, and dropped them 30 feet into a sump holding 12 feet of water. Two men saved themselves by clutching a bowk that was about to be wound up; the other five drowned. The dead were Thomas Davies (23, mason), William Franks (23, mason), Charles Howells/Howell (27, sinker per NMRS, mason per Welsh Coal Mines), Stradling Llewellyn (36, mason), and the fifth man named as John Lewis by Welsh Coal Mines but as J. Rook (sinker) by NMRS — the two accounts disagree on this one name.

Investigation & inquiry

An inquest was held at the Royal Oak Inn, Bryncethin. The colliery manager, Thomas Burns, told the inquest that cracks had been found in the cast iron of the crab, which had widened under strain and caused the drum to run free. A Mr Wales, giving evidence, suggested wooden crabs should be used in place of iron ones.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

No further regulatory consequence has been found beyond the inquest evidence recorded above.

Memorials & commemoration

No memorial has been found for this accident.

Recorded claims

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

• Welsh Coal Mines names the fifth victim as John Lewis (36); NMRS names him as J. Rook (23), a sinker. The other four names and the cause agree between the two accounts. (disputed) ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Capstan (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “…being sunk for the new Barrow pits at Bryncethin, after a cast-iron crab winch failed.”
• Drift (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…new shafts to reach steam-coal seams that lay beneath the shallow drift workings already exploiting the Red Ash house-coal seam in the area.…”
• Kibble (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…holding 12 feet of water. Two men saved themselves by clutching a bowk that was about to be wound up; the other five drowned. The dead were…”
• Shaft Sinking (contextual relationship)
  Named 6 times in this record, first in the summary: “Five masons and sinkers drowned when a scaffold platform collapsed and dropped them 30 feet…”
• Sump (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…platform collapsed and dropped them 30 feet into the flooded sump of a shaft then being sunk for the new Barrow pits at Bryncethin,…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Barrow Colliery Bryncethin (Welsh Coal Mines) — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Bryn Cethin Colliery Shaft Accident - Bridgend - 1874 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 14 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026