Bettisfield Colliery overwind, 1887

On the evening of Saturday 12 February 1887 two colliers sending timber down the shaft at Bettisfield Colliery, Bagillt, asked for the cage to be lifted so they could take off its cover; it was drawn up at speed into the headgear, the safety hook failed, the rope broke and the cage fell 280 yards to the bottom with Edward Pritchard and Daniel Roberts in it.

Date	12 February 1887
Mine	Bettisfield Colliery
Region	Flintshire
Type	Winding / Shaft Accident
Fatalities	2 (Edward Pritchard, 32 (36 in the inquest report), collier, and Daniel Roberts, 30 (David in the inquest report), collier, of Penybont, Bagillt; both unmarried.)
Context	During active mining

A roofless red-brick engine house stands behind a corrugated fence and a gorse bush beside a gravel track. — Surviving buildings of Bettisfield Colliery, Bagillt Jeff Buck, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph

Cause

An overwind: the cage was carried with great velocity into the headgear, the safety hook failed to act, the rope broke and the cage fell to the bottom of the pit.

What happened

The two men were working overtime, sending timber down the pit. Finding it too long to go into the cage, they signalled to the engineman to lift the cage from the bottom landing, at ground level, to the top so that they could remove the cage cover. A search party went down by another shaft and found their remains at the bottom.

Investigation & inquiry

The coroner, William Davies, opened the inquest at Bagillt and adjourned it so that the district Inspector of Mines, Henry Hall, could attend with his assistant, J. L. Hedley. At the resumed hearing at the Blossoms Inn the jury deliberated at length and returned a verdict of accidental death, with a rider recommending the company to adopt self-acting props in future.

Recorded claims

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

On the evening of Saturday 12 February 1887 two colliers, Edward Pritchard and Roberts, were killed at Bettisfield Colliery, Bagillt, when the cage fell to the bottom of the shaft. ^1,2,3
The cage was drawn up at great speed into the headgear, the safety hook failed to act, the rope broke and the cage fell with the two men in it. ¹
The two were working overtime sending timber down the pit, and had the cage lifted to the top so they could take off its cover because the timber was too long to go in. ^1,2
The inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death and recommended the company to adopt self-acting props. ^3,4

Related terminology

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

Cage (contextual relationship)
Named 7 times in this record, first in the summary: “…down the shaft at Bettisfield Colliery, Bagillt, asked for the cage to be lifted so they could take off its cover; it was drawn up at…”
HM Chief Inspector of Mines (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s investigation: “…opened the inquest at Bagillt and adjourned it so that the district Inspector of Mines, Henry Hall, could attend with his assistant, J. L. Hedley. At the…”
Headgear (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…so they could take off its cover; it was drawn up at speed into the headgear, the safety hook failed, the rope broke and the cage fell 280 yards…”
Overwind (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s cause: “An overwind: the cage was carried with great velocity into the headgear, the…”
Shaft (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…of Saturday 12 February 1887 two colliers sending timber down the shaft at Bettisfield Colliery, Bagillt, asked for the cage to be lifted so…”

Sources

(primary) Disasters - Names: Bettisfield, 12 February 1887 (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
(primary) South Wales Daily News, 14 February 1887: Two men killed in a colliery — South Wales Daily News (Welsh Newspapers Online, National Library of Wales)
(primary) Wrexham and Denbighshire Advertiser, 19 February 1887: The colliery accident at Bagillt (inquest) — Wrexham and Denbighshire Advertiser (Welsh Newspapers Online, National Library of Wales)
(primary) Flintshire Observer, 17 February 1887: Bagillt (opening of the inquest) — Flintshire Observer (Welsh Newspapers Online, National Library of Wales)
(primary) Durham Mining Museum: Bettisfield Colliery — Durham Mining Museum, from the Lists of Mines

Record created: 25 October 2026 · Last researched: 25 October 2026