Dyffryn Main Colliery overwind, 1878

On 26 February 1878 the cage carrying seven night-shift men up the shaft at the Bryncoch Main Colliery, near Neath, was overwound into the headgear. Two men fell to the bottom and were killed and another was badly hurt; the inquest returned accidental death.

Cause

The winding engine ran away with the ascending cage: an iron pin had worked its way from the boiler valve through the steam pipe into the engine's valve, and the fireman working the engine lost control.

Contributing factors

The engineman was not at his post and the fireman was working the engine in his place, which the men said was usual when the engineman was unavailable.

What happened

On the morning of Tuesday 26 February 1878 seven men of the night shift at the Bryncoch Main Colliery, Dyffryn, near Neath, finished work, got into the cage at the pit bottom and signalled to be drawn up. The fireman was at the engine in place of the engineman, and when he turned on steam the engine ran away. The cage rose with frightful speed, went through the safety stop-gear, wrecked the guides and smashed the grooved winding sheaves at the top. Four men were thrown out of the cage: one caught hold of a guide and was unhurt, one fell onto the landing and broke a bone, and John Johns and David Davies fell to the bottom of the shaft. Their bodies were taken through the workings to another shaft and brought to the surface.

Rescue & recovery

The bodies were brought out by another shaft; Dr Ryding attended the injured.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest, opened on the Friday after the accident, failed to agree and was adjourned to 4 March and again to 9 March 1878, when the jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Recorded claims

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

• On 26 February 1878 John Johns and David Davies were killed when the cage was overwound at the Bryncoch Main Colliery. ^1,2,3
• The ascending cage went through the safety stop-gear, destroyed the guides and smashed the winding sheaves. ^1,2
• The fireman was working the engine in the engineman's absence. ^1,2,4
• The adjourned inquest returned accidental death on 9 March 1878; an iron pin had passed from the boiler valve through the steam pipe into the engine valve. ⁴

Related terminology

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

• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “On 26 February 1878 the cage carrying seven night-shift men up the shaft at the Bryncoch Main…”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the cause: “…boiler valve through the steam pipe into the engine's valve, and the fireman working the engine lost control.”
• Headgear (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “…at the Bryncoch Main Colliery, near Neath, was overwound into the headgear. Two men fell to the bottom and were killed and another was badly…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “On 26 February 1878 the cage carrying seven night-shift men up the shaft at the Bryncoch Main Colliery, near Neath, was overwound into the…”
• Winding Engine (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “The winding engine ran away with the ascending cage: an iron pin had worked its way…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Welsh Coal Mines: fatalities, 1878 — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) 'Accident at the Bryncoch Main Colliery, Neath: two men killed and several injured', South Wales Daily News, 27 February 1878 — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) 'Accident at the Bryncoch Main Colliery, Neath', The Cardiff Times, 2 March 1878 — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
4. (primary) 'Bryncoch, ger Castellnedd' (Dewi ap Levi), Y Gwyliedydd, 21 March 1878 — Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026