MineArchiveDisasters
Explosions, floods, collapses and other major incidents at UK mines — including significant post-closure incidents in abandoned workings. Each record is researched to the same standard as a mine or terminology entry, not just a casualty count.
4 disasters in the 1820s, of 505.
| Disaster | Date | Type | Region | Fatalities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Pit explosion, 1821 On 13 April 1821 a sudden great outburst of firedamp in the Main Band workings of William Pit, Whitehaven, reached an open light and exploded, killing twelve: five haggers and seven boys and girls. Each hagger had been issued with a Davy safety lamp, but working with the top off was common. It was the first of the pit's great explosions; two years later a worse one killed thirty-two. |
13 April 1821 | Explosion | Cumbria | 12 |
| William Pit Explosion, 1823 A firedamp explosion in William Pit's Main Band workings at Whitehaven killed 32 people, including 15 boys and 2 girls, and seventeen pit ponies — one of at least fourteen serious explosions recorded at the pit over its working life. |
18 October 1823 | Explosion | Cumbria | 32 |
| William Pit underground fire, 1826 On 3 January 1826 fire broke out in an underground engine room at William Pit, Whitehaven, and its smoke spread through the workings, suffocating nine. The dead ranged from a boy of thirteen to a man of seventy-eight, and three were in their sixties. It was the third disaster at the pit in five years. |
3 Jan 1826 | Fire | Cumbria | 9 |
| Houghton Colliery explosion, 1828 Seven men and boys died in the New Pit at Houghton-le-Spring on Monday 1 September 1828 — the first disaster at Lord Durham's colliery, which had been sunk only five years before. The accident was put down to a door in the mine having been carelessly left open on the Saturday night, so that foul air gathered over the weekend and fired when the pitmen came back on Monday morning with their lights. The inquest returned accidental death. |
1 September 1828 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 7 |