California Pit shaft accident, 1865

On 12 September 1865, as eight men and boys rode up the California Pit of the Kirkless Hall Coal and Iron Company at Aspull, near Wigan, the wire rope slipped off the drum onto the engine shaft and was cut. Within thirty yards of the top, they fell 270 yards to their deaths.

Cause

The round wire rope ran off an ungrooved compensating drum onto the engine's main shaft and was broken or severed.

Contributing factors

An ungrooved drum with low flanges; the engine driven at great speed.

What happened

The drum was a compensating drum without grooves, its diameter swelling towards the middle so that the rope coiled at a steep angle, and its flanges were low. The engine ran very fast; when steam was shut off the elastic steel rope let the cage run on, then lay slack on the drum, and slipped off. Men had noticed for some time that the engineman, Thomas Lees, drove the engine at great speed, and some had told him so, but no one complained to the manager. The dead were aged eleven to forty.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The inquest at the Running Horses, Aspull, returned accidental death.

Recorded claims

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

• Eight were killed in the shaft accident on 12 September 1865. ^1,2
• The rope got off the drum, fell onto the engine's main shaft and was severed, and the cage fell 270 yards. ¹
• The men had noticed for some time that the engineman ran the engine at great speed, but no complaint reached the manager. ¹
• The pit belonged to the Kirkless Hall Coal and Iron Company. ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…very fast; when steam was shut off the elastic steel rope let the cage run on, then lay slack on the drum, and slipped off. Men had noticed…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…near Wigan, the wire rope slipped off the drum onto the engine shaft and was cut. Within thirty yards of the top, they fell 270 yards to…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) California Colliery Shaft Accident - Aspull - 1865 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery Disaster: California, 12 September 1865 — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 3 October 2026 · Last researched: 3 October 2026