East Hetton Colliery inrush, 1897

At half past three in the morning on 6 May 1897 water burst into East Hetton Colliery from old workings and drowned ten people. The first warning was water seeping from the face of a longwall in the Harvey seam a mile north of the shaft. The inspector reported that only a limited number of men were below at that hour, and that on a day shift the loss would have been far greater; the water was fought by throwing a demolished engine house, clay and lime into the old Cassop shaft and pumping from every available source.

Cause

An inrush of water from old workings into the Harvey seam longwall workings.

What happened

The accident happened at half past three in the morning, when only a limited number of men were in the pit. The first intimation of anything wrong was one of the charge men noticing water coming out at the face of longwall workings in the Harvey seam, about a mile north of the winding shaft, and steps were taken to warn the men. Ten people were drowned.

Rescue & recovery

Mr Tate the agent, Mr Chipchase the manager, the overmen, deputies and several workmen were quickly on the spot and went down, the water by then three feet or more deep on the flat sheets. Because the water had fallen from its ordinary level in the old Cassop shaft a few hundred yards from the workings, a large engine house nearby was blown down and thrown into that shaft along with clay, lime and anything else that came to hand, while water tanks and the East Hetton pumps worked against the flood. Getting the water down was slow work on the irregular gradient of the road, and was further delayed by quantities of gas met with where the water had reached the roof.

Investigation & inquiry

The inrush was reported by HM Inspectors of Mines in their annual report for 1897, with two plans of the Harvey seam workings and the site of the holing.

Memorials & commemoration

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• On 6 May 1897 water broke into East Hetton Colliery, the property of Walter Scott Limited, from old workings, drowning ten people; it happened at half past three in the morning, when only a limited number of men were in the pit, and the inspector noted that on the day shift the loss of life would probably have been much greater. ¹
• The first sign was a charge man noticing water coming out at the face of longwall workings in the Harvey seam about a mile north of the winding shaft, and steps were taken at once to warn the men. ¹
• The agent Mr Tate, the manager Mr Chipchase, the overmen, deputies and several workmen went down as soon as they heard, the water then three feet deep or more on the flat sheets; a large engine house nearby was blown down and thrown into the old Cassop shaft with clay, lime and whatever else came to hand, while tanks and pumps worked to lower the water. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) East Hetton Colliery Disaster Report (1897 inspector's annual report) (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) East Hetton Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 20 September 2026