MineArchiveCwrt Herbert Colliery explosion, 1906
| Date | 1 June 1906 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Cwrt Herbert Colliery |
| Region | Neath Port Talbot |
| Primary type | Explosion |
| Associated types | Fire |
| Fatalities | 5 (Hopkin Jenkins, 51, died on the 3rd, and his son John Jenkins, 19, on the 4th, both of Taillwyd, Neath Abbey; Elias Jones, 62, of Taillwyd, and his son Isaiah Jones, 31, who died on the 4th; William Jones, 37, of Cadoxton, the last to die, on the 9th.) |
| Injuries | Four seriously injured, among them Fred Jenkins, a colliery labourer, and George Richards, a collier of Melincryddan. |
| Context | During active mining (The afternoon shift at the Main Colliery Company's Cwrt Herbert pit near Neath Abbey, a colliery prone to gob fires that had worked nearly thirty years without an explosion.) |
At ten to four on the afternoon of Friday 1 June 1906 gas reached a gob fire in the Four Feet seam at Cwrt Herbert Colliery, near Neath Abbey, and exploded in two flashes near the deepest part of a slant running 800 yards from the pit bottom. Four colliers were seriously injured and five fatally burned, among them two fathers and their sons, dying over the following eight days. The fire could not be controlled, and the workings were flooded.
Cause
An accumulation of firedamp reached a gob fire and exploded.
Contributing factors
The colliery was prone to gob fires in its old workings.
What happened
About three hundred men worked the pit on two shifts. It was 150 yards deep, with a slant of some 800 yards from the bottom; the explosion came near its deepest part, in the Four Feet seam on the 4 East side, where four stalls were worked, about a mile from the pit bottom towards Neath. Fred Jenkins and his butty George Folland were gauging, packing rubbish between two walls, in No. 4 heading when a flash almost blinded them; Jenkins ran to warn eight men working twenty yards away, and a second flash knocked them down. 'It was like as if you was to throw a quart of paraffin on the fire,' he said.
Rescue & recovery
News reached Neath about half past four. The fire that followed got out of control and the workings had to be flooded; the company hoped to find work for as many men as possible at its Main Skewen colliery.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- Five colliers were killed by an explosion of gas on 1 June 1906: Hopkin Jenkins, 51, John Jenkins, 19, Elias Jones, 62, Isaiah Jones, 31, and William Jones, 37. 1,2,3
- An accumulation of gas reached a gob fire, to which the colliery was prone. 1
- Fred Jenkins, gauging with his butty George Folland in No. 4 heading, saw a flash that almost blinded him, ran to warn eight men twenty yards away, and was knocked down by a second flash. 3
- The fire that followed got out of control and the workings were flooded; the company hoped to take on the men at its Main Skewen colliery. 3
Related terminology
Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.
- Buttyman (contextual relationship)
Fred Jenkins was gauging with his butty. - Firedamp (direct cause)
Gas reached a gob fire. - Slant (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…Neath Abbey, and exploded in two flashes near the deepest part of a slant running 800 yards from the pit bottom. Four colliers were seriously…” - Spontaneous Combustion (direct cause)
The colliery was prone to gob fires. - Stall (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s narrative: “…deepest part, in the Four Feet seam on the 4 East side, where four stalls were worked, about a mile from the pit bottom towards Neath. Fred…”
Sources
- (secondary) Cwrt Herbert Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
- (secondary) Durham Mining Museum - Court Herbert Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
- (secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1906 — Welsh Coal Mines
Record created: 14 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026