On the night of 23 November 1893 the winding rope broke as t

On the night of 23 November 1893 the winding rope broke as the last cage of shifters was being lowered down the Fell Shaft at Burnhope Colliery, in County Durham, and four men were dashed to the bottom and killed.

Cause

The winding rope broke about thirty yards below the surface while the last of eight cages of night-shift men was being lowered, dropping the cage some 150 yards to the pit bottom.

What happened

George Holt, a master shifter, and three shifters, Aaron Laycock, John Hall and George Shaw, were killed. The Fell Shaft, about 400 yards from the coal-drawing shafts, was used to change the men and to wind a little coal for the boilers. The shifters and stonemen, thirty-two in all, were being sent down at eight in the evening, four to a cage; seven cages, twenty-eight men, had gone down safely, but as the eighth and last was about thirty yards below the surface the rope suddenly broke and the four men fell about 150 yards to the bottom and were killed instantly. The compound Lang's-lay steel rope had been in use four years and twenty-one days. The colliery belonged to U. A. Ritson.

Sources

1. (primary) Burnhope Colliery shaft accident, 23 November 1893 (from the 1893 Mines Inspector's Report) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Burnhope Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 22 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026