Callands Pit explosion, 1816

On the morning of 5 January 1816 fire-damp exploded at the Pentre Colliery near Swansea, whose pumping shaft was Calland's Pit, killing two men and dreadfully burning five others.

Cause

An explosion of fire-damp.

What happened

Pentre Colliery, at Pen-filia near Landore, had been worked since the 1760s, with Calland's Pit as its downcast and pumping shaft and one of Swansea's earliest steam pumping engines. On the morning of Friday 5 January 1816 fire-damp exploded in the workings. Two men were killed and five others dreadfully burnt, two of whom were not expected to survive. The Cambrian reported it the next day as one of the accidents it too often had the distressing task of recording.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The explosion happened on 9 January 1816. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• An explosion of fire-damp at the Pentre Colliery near Swansea killed two men and badly burnt five others. ^1,2
• The explosion happened on the morning of 5 January 1816. ²
• The explosion happened on 9 January 1816. (disputed) ¹
• Two of the five burnt men were not expected to survive. ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “On the morning of 5 January 1816 fire-damp exploded at the Pentre Colliery near Swansea, whose pumping shaft was Calland's Pit, killing two men…”
• Downcast Shaft and Upcast Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Landore, had been worked since the 1760s, with Calland's Pit as its downcast and pumping shaft and one of Swansea's earliest steam pumping…”
• Pumping Engine (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…its downcast and pumping shaft and one of Swansea's earliest steam pumping engines. On the morning of Friday 5 January 1816 fire-damp exploded in the…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…exploded at the Pentre Colliery near Swansea, whose pumping shaft was Calland's Pit, killing two men and dreadfully burning five…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Mynydd Newydd Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) The Cambrian, 6 January 1816: explosion of fire-damp at the Pentre Colliery — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 10 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026