Black Vein Colliery explosion, 1860

At about 9.30 a.m. on Saturday 1 December 1860 firedamp exploded in the fourth east level of the Black Vein Pit at Risca. The blast brought down great falls that cut off the ventilation, and most of the victims were killed by the afterdamp trapped behind them. More than 140 men and boys died, the worst British mining disaster recorded to that date, and the last body was not brought out until February 1861. The inquest jury found the gas had been given off suddenly in a group of stalls but could not say how it was fired; the company was wound up.

Cause

Firedamp released suddenly in the stalls of the third cross-heading, fourth east level, probably by a fall of roof where gas stood in the gobs, and fired by a flame the inquiry could not identify; Inspector Thomas Evans suggested a defective lamp or one damaged by the fall.

Contributing factors

Naked lights and unlocked lamps had long been tolerated despite the explosions of the 1840s and 1853 and Herbert Mackworth's 1855 notice. After the disaster four lamps were found unlocked, pipes, tobacco and lamp keys were found on some victims, 33 of the 200 lamps issued were missing, and the inspectors judged the ventilation 'too near a balance to be satisfactory'. The barometer was very low.

What happened

The colliery, owned by John Russell & Co., wound from a 146-yard winning and worked the thick, gassy Black Vein by pillar and single stall, driven with little regard to direction; ventilation came from a pair of Struvé air pumps. The manager, Charles Anderson Harrison, had been down that morning, found the air good and measured 37,500 cubic feet a minute passing the main intake, and was at the Rock Vein pit when the banksman ran to tell him that 'sulphur had gone off'. Evans placed the explosion at No. 3 cross-heading on the fourth east level, with other ignitions following along the workings, and the falls it brought down stopped the air so that the afterdamp spread. A widow named Sage lost two sons, two brothers and a lodger; Abraham Watson died with his two sons; and among the dead was and the overman Evan Beddoe, who had escaped and gone back down with a search party. Many of the men were from Somerset and Gloucestershire. Twelve bodies were too badly burned or disfigured to identify.

Rescue & recovery

Harrison went straight down and found his son Thomas alive on the slope, but was stopped by a great fall at the third west; forty-two people were brought up that day and about sixty in all came out alive. H.M. Inspector Thomas Wales arrived on 3 December and found men clearing a fall on the No. 2 east level that was blocking the air to Nos. 3 and 4 east, where most of the dead lay; the air current was reversed while it was cleared, then reversed again. Gas and heavy falls hindered every advance, relays worked six-hour shifts, and the last body came out on 5 February 1861.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest opened before the coroner Mr Brewer at the British Schoolroom, Risca, on 12 January 1861 and later moved to the New Inn, sitting for eighteen days, with evidence from Inspectors Wales, Evans and Brough. The jury found James Hammond and the others died from an explosion of firedamp given off suddenly in the stalls of the third cross-heading, fourth east level, with no evidence of how it was ignited.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The jury recommended revised rules, frequent inspection of working places and, following Mr Brough, ventilation arranged so that any future explosion would be confined to one district, with a new pit sunk to improve it; it thought the Stephenson lamp the best and safest. The Risca Coal and Iron Company was wound up in 1861, and John Russell sold Piercefield to fund a trust for the families. The arbitrator ordered a return from mechanical to furnace ventilation.

Changes to practice & legislation

About 1862 the working was changed from single to double stall, and the colliery worked on without another serious explosion until it closed. The Stephenson lamp was tried but given up after two years because the colliers disliked it.

Memorials & commemoration

Twelve unidentified dead were buried without coffins in a communal grave on the mountainside above Risca.

Recorded claims

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

• Welsh Coal Mines gives 146 men and boys killed on 1 December 1860; Wikipedia says more than 140, and other accounts give 142. The exact figure is not settled. (disputed) ^1,2
• The force of the blast brought down a huge fall which cut off the ventilation, trapping the afterdamp that killed the majority of the victims; twelve bodies were too badly burned or disfigured to identify and were buried without coffins in a communal grave on the mountainside above Risca. ²
• Mechanical ventilation had replaced the furnace in 1858, but after the 1860 explosion the arbitrator ordered a return to the furnace system, saying he did not approve of ventilation by machinery. ²
• The explosion occurred at about 9.30 a.m. on Saturday 1 December 1860, with about 200 men and boys below; the lampkeeper had given out 200 lamps. ³
• The NMRS prints the names of 141 dead, and records that Llewellyn Saunders, brought out alive, died on 30 November 1861. ³
• A chronology compiled on the Welsh Coal Mines page gives 142 killed. (disputed) ²
• The jury found that the firedamp was given off suddenly in the group of stalls at the third cross-heading, fourth east level, but that there was no evidence to show how it was ignited. ³
• In a notice of 25 July 1855 the Inspector Herbert Mackworth declared the Risca collieries dangerous, citing standing firedamp, candles and unlocked lamps, inadequate ventilation and unfenced shafts. ³
• Relays of men worked six-hour shifts through gas and heavy falls, and the last body was not recovered until 5 February 1861, nine weeks after the explosion. ³
• The Risca Coal and Iron Company was wound up in 1861 because of the heavy losses from the explosion, and John Russell sold Piercefield to set up a trust for the families. ²

Related terminology

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

• Afterdamp (hazard involved)
  Most victims were killed by afterdamp trapped behind the falls.
• Firedamp (direct cause)
  Firedamp released by a roof fall fired in the fourth east level.
• Naked Light (contributing factor)
  Naked lights and unlocked lamps had long been tolerated at the pit.
• Safety Lamp (contributing factor)
  Unlocked lamps and lamp keys were found after the explosion.
• Stall (contextual relationship)
  The seam was worked by pillar and single stall.

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Risca colliery disasters — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Black Vein Colliery, Risca — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (secondary) Risca Colliery Black Vein Pit Explosion - Risca - 1860 — Northern Mine Research Society (information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre)

Record created: 9 September 2026 · Last researched: 13 September 2026