MineArchiveExplosion disasters
Firedamp, coal dust or blasting explosions underground.
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66 disasters in the 1870s, of 502.
| Disaster | Date | Type | Region | Fatalities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pendleton Colliery explosion, 1870 At half past ten one morning in February 1870 the fireman Jonathan Chapman fired a shot in the No. 2 level of the Albert mine at Pendleton Colliery. It blew out without bringing down the coal, and flame swept the level, burning everyone working near it. Nine men and boys died, some at home and some in the Salford Royal Dispensary, four of them boys of fourteen to sixteen. The jury blamed the powder flame alone; the Inspector thought firedamp had fed it. |
February 1870 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 9 |
| Morfa Colliery explosion, 1870 Between six and seven on the morning of 14 February 1870, when 50 or 60 men had gone down Morfa Colliery at Taibach, a terrific explosion near the bottom of the working shaft wrecked the shaft and headgear and killed twenty-nine men and boys. Blasting powder for deepening the shaft was stored there, and the manager blamed it; the jury found firedamp; the Inspector traced the gas to a goaf that had been sealed off months before. |
14 February 1870 | Explosion | Neath Port Talbot | 29 |
| Astley Deep Pit explosion, 1870 In March 1870 an explosion of firedamp at Astley Deep Pit, Dukinfield, killed nine men and stunned some 200 more. The inspector had warned the proprietor for two years that an accident would follow if he did not appoint a competent manager, and the jury found the manager unfit to run the mine alone. |
March 1870 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 9 |
| Grassmoor Colliery Gas Explosion, 1870 On 13 June 1870 two colliers were killed by an explosion of gas in the Top Hard coal at Grassmoor Colliery, in Derbyshire. |
13 June 1870 | Explosion | Derbyshire | 2 |
| Bryn Hall Colliery explosion, 1870 At about 9 a.m. on 19 August 1870 a blown-out shot fired gas in the Nine Feet workings of W. and J. B. Crippin's Bryn Hall Colliery, Ashton-in-Makerfield, killing 20. The fireman had let the men drill, charge and fire their own shots. |
19 August 1870 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 20 |
| Pendlebury Colliery Explosion, 1870 A roof fall released a large quantity of gas at Pendlebury (Wheatsheaf) Colliery on 27 September 1870, which travelled along the ventilation current and ignited among men working with naked lights, killing six. |
27 September 1870 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 6 |
| Abercwmboi Colliery Explosion, 1870 On 8 October 1870 an explosion at the flue of Abercwmboi Colliery, in the Aberdare valley, killed five men, among them the overman James Davies. |
8 October 1870 | Explosion | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 5 |
| Parys Mountain boiler explosion, 1870 A large Cornish boiler at the ore-crushing plant exploded during a lunch break, demolishing the building; accounts from the same local research group differ sharply on the death toll, citing either one confirmed death with 8–10 injured, or seven men killed. |
19 October 1870 | Explosion | Anglesey | 1 |
| Snydale Colliery goaf ignition On 12 December 1870 two colliers were killed by an explosion of gas at Snydale Colliery, near Pontefract in the West Riding. |
12 December 1870 | Explosion | West Yorkshire | 2 |
| Renishaw Park Colliery explosion, 1871 On the evening of 10 January 1871 a shot fired to blast down roof in an intake at J. and G. Wells's Renishaw Park Colliery near Eckington ignited firedamp. The explosion itself was small, but the ventilation carried its afterdamp two thousand yards into the No. 2 Pit; twenty-six or twenty-seven men and boys died and twelve were injured. |
1871 | Explosion | Derbyshire | 26 |
| Leycett Colliery explosion, 1871 A collier named John Crooks fired a shot in the Ten Feet mine of the Independent pit at Leycett without the fireman's leave; the powder blew out of the hole, moved no coal, and fired the gas. The jury held Crooks was not to blame, because the rules did not stop him. The inspector, Thomas Wynne, called Leycett 'the most unfortunate colliery in the district' and blamed the system of driving many levels at once beyond the main air on nothing but pipes and brattice. |
12 January 1871 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 8 |
| Pentre Colliery Explosion, 1871 An explosion on the night shift at Pentre Colliery in the Rhondda on 24 February 1871 killed thirty-eight men and boys. The blast wrecked one side of the headgear, and a rescue party of five was overcome by afterdamp the moment its cage reached the pit bottom; two of the five died and are counted among the dead. |
24 February 1871 | Explosion | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 38 |
| Ince Moss Colliery explosions, 1871 The explosion in the Wigan Nine Feet mine at the Moss Pits, Ince, near Wigan, on 6 September 1871 was, in the inspector's words, the most serious casualty of the year or that he had ever known. Sixty-four people were at work in the mine and six more were sinking the upcast pit below, seventy in all. Sixty-eight bodies were left underground: the rescuers found the mine on fire, a second slight explosion drove them back, and the attempt to recover the dead was given up. |
6 September 1871 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 70 |
| Gadlys Colliery explosion, 1871 An explosion of gas at Gadlys Colliery, Aberdare, on 4 October 1871 killed four men and boys outright: two packers, a haulier of eighteen and a door boy of eleven. A fifth, the packer William Isaac, died later of his injuries. |
4 October 1871 | Explosion | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 4 |
| Featherstone Main Colliery explosion, 1871 On 14 October 1871 an explosion of gas killed two colliers at Featherstone Main Colliery, near Pontefract in the West Riding. |
14 October 1871 | Explosion | West Yorkshire | 2 |
| Seaham Colliery Explosion, 1871 An outburst of gas from the roof of Seaham Colliery's No. 3 pit was ignited during blasting, killing 26 men and boys — nine years before the far larger disaster that would make the colliery's name. |
25 October 1871 | Explosion | County Durham | 26 |
| Bartonholm Colliery explosion, 1871 At about three on Monday morning, 30 October 1871, Thomas McQuade went down No. 3 Bartonholm Pit near Irvine to light the ventilation furnace, the 'cube', which he was said to have neglected the day before. He carried a Davy lamp and a naked one, and twelve miners went with him. At the end of the main roadway a strong blast of firedamp met his open light and exploded. McQuade and the three men behind him were killed; the Hamilton Advertiser counted a fifth. |
30 October 1871 | Explosion | North Ayrshire | 4 |
| Springs Colliery explosion, 1871 Shortly before 11 p.m. on 15 November 1871 firedamp exploded in the Arley mine at John Scowcroft and Co.'s Springs Pit, Hindley Green, after a shot was fired to bring down roof while enlarging a pony road. Six men and boys were killed on the north-east side, the fireman was badly burned, and eleven ponies died. |
15 November 1871 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 6 |
| Oakwood Colliery explosion, 1872 Just before midnight on Wednesday 10 January 1872 the whole Llynfi valley was shaken by an explosion at Oakwood Colliery near Maesteg. Only eleven men were underground, most of them repairers on the night shift, and all eleven were killed along with six horses. An unlocked lamp was found beside the body of John Lloyd; at the inquest a collier said he had left his work because Caleb Davies meant to fire a shot where gas was known to be, and the jury returned an open verdict on the cause. |
10 January 1872 | Explosion | Bridgend | 11 |
| Berry Hill Colliery explosion, 1872 On 12 March 1872 an explosion of firedamp at Berry Hill Colliery, Fenton, killed six men. The inquest blamed the careless use of naked lights where gas was present. |
12 March 1872 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 6 |
| Lovers Lane Colliery explosion, 1872 Twenty-seven men and boys died at John Fletcher's Lovers Lane pit at Atherton on 28 March 1872 when a shot blew out its stemming in the Five Feet mine. The air reached the working faces through six iron pipes of about a foot in area each — six square feet of airway in all, for an average length of forty-one yards — and an escape that had been letting extra air into the workings had been stopped that very morning. Ten of the dead were nineteen or younger; five were twelve or thirteen. |
28 March 1872 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 27 |
| Morley Main Colliery explosion, 1872 An explosion of firedamp at Morley Main Colliery, between Dewsbury and Leeds, on 7 October 1872 killed thirty-four people. The Durham Mining Museum records the ignition as caused by a naked light and names the dead; Morley's own histories note that the town's worst mining disaster went publicly unmarked for 140 years. |
7 October 1872 | Explosion | West Yorkshire | 34 |
| Featherstone Main Colliery explosion, 1872 On 2 December 1872 the deputy William Phoenix, examining Featherstone Main Colliery before work, took the top off his lamp and ignited firedamp; he and two boys aged 13 and 14 died. |
2 December 1872 | Explosion | West Yorkshire | 3 |
| Silverdale Colliery explosion, 1872 At 8 a.m. on 21 December 1872 gas fired in the Bullhurst seam of Stanier and Company's Silverdale Colliery, Staffordshire, killing all eight men near it; the shaft belched stones and coal. The inspector blamed the management for reopening workings he had had bricked up months before, and the jury could not agree a verdict. |
1872 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 8 |
| Talk o' th' Hill Colliery explosion, 1873 On 18 February 1873 an explosion in the Seven Foot Banbury seam at the North Staffordshire Coal and Iron Company's Talk o' th' Hill Colliery killed all eighteen men and boys working there, six years after the pit's 1866 disaster. Firing a shot was given as the cause of ignition. |
18 February 1873 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 18 |
| Cwmtillery Colliery explosion, 1873 In the early hours of 5 April 1873 firedamp exploded in reopened old workings at Cwmtillery Colliery, where eight night men were working on the roads. None survived. The inspector found that brattice sheets had been left down while the men slept, and that they then walked into the gas with naked lights. |
1873 | Explosion | Blaenau Gwent | 6 |
| Wynnstay Colliery Explosion (1873) Insufficiently bored and improperly rammed shot holes let gas from two shots ignite, killing seven men and boys -- the third of three fatal explosions to strike this colliery within a decade. |
24 April 1873 | Explosion | Wrexham | 7 |
| Bryn Hall Colliery explosion, 1873 At 12.20 a.m. on 2 June 1873, while shotlighters fired the night's shots in the Wigan Nine Feet mine at the Crippins' Bryn Hall Colliery, Ashton-in-Makerfield, gas exploded twice, wrecking both headgears and killing six of the nine men and boys below. Because the inspector had ordered shots fired at night, the day shift of 250 was out of the pit. |
2 June 1873 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 6 |
| Worcester Colliery explosion, 1873 An explosion of firedamp in No. 8 level of Worcester Colliery, Fforestfach, on the evening of 29 August 1873 killed four men; the inspector blamed the manager and fireman, who had both found gas that day, and the manager was fined £10. |
29 August 1873 | Explosion | Swansea | 4 |
| Hafod Colliery Explosion (1873) The colliery's own master dataller improperly opened his safety lamp to inspect a ventilation door, igniting an explosion that killed five men. |
11 December 1873 | Explosion | Wrexham | 5 |
| Astley Deep Pit explosion, 1874 On 14 April 1874 a roof fall in the Half Moon Tunnel at Astley Deep Pit, Dukinfield, then the deepest coal mine in Britain, released gas that exploded and set the workings on fire, killing 54 men and boys. The jury blamed the bricking-up of a ventilating mouthing and a pit in a state of anarchy. |
14 April 1874 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 54 |
| Bwllfa Dare Colliery Sinking Explosion (1874) Two sinkers were killed and a third badly injured when they ignited gas blowers while sinking a new shaft at Bwllfa Dare Colliery, Cwmdare, on 18 May 1874. |
18 May 1874 | Explosion | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 2 |
| Rawmarsh Colliery explosion, 1874 At about ten to eight on the morning of 20 November 1874, gas exploded in the No. 7 dip south levels of the Barnsley seam at J. and J. Charlesworth's Rawmarsh Colliery near Rotherham — about 1,400 yards from the shaft, in a pit worked alongside their Warren Vale colliery. Twenty-three men died. The engineers disagreed at the inquest about whether an outburst or a roof fall had driven the gas out, but not about what lit it: the men were working with naked candles. |
20 November 1874 | Explosion | South Yorkshire | 23 |
| Western Colliery sinking explosion, 1874 A gas explosion during the sinking of Western Colliery, at what later became the Wyndham Western complex at Nantymoel, killed five sinkers on 7 December 1874. |
7 December 1874 | Explosion | Bridgend | 5 |
| Aldwarke Main Colliery explosion, 1875 At about 6.20 a.m. on 5 January 1875 gas exploded in the Carr House workings of John Brown & Co.'s Aldwarke Main Colliery, near Rotherham, killing seven men. The jury returned accidental death and called for safety lamps in place of naked lights. |
5 January 1875 | Explosion | South Yorkshire | 7 |
| Bunker's Hill Colliery Explosion, 1875 About one in the afternoon of 30 April 1875 a shot fired in a heading at Bunker's Hill Colliery near Talke ignited firedamp and killed forty-three men and boys. Everyone underground in that part of the pit died, so the cause had to be reconstructed afterwards. The inspector's report said the explosion was caused by the use of gunpowder and that the reason for the change from wedging to blasting had been simply that the owner could not compete with neighbours who blasted. |
30 April 1875 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 43 |
| Dudley Colliery Explosion, 1875 Two shiftmen, George Clasper and William Davison, were killed by an explosion of gas in the Low Main seam of the Dudley Pit, Cramlington Colliery, on 13 May 1875. They had been sent with naked lights to lay tramway plates in an old gateway whose ventilation was impeded by a fall, and went further in than the deputy had examined. The Inspector of Mines found want of caution and an imperfect grasp of duties on all sides, and that no special rules had been established at the pit. |
13 May 1875 | Explosion | Tyne and Wear | 2 |
| Ynysfeio Colliery gas explosion, 1875 On 7 September 1875 an explosion of gas killed two labourers at Ynysfeio Colliery, in the Rhondda valley, after a man kept working with a safety lamp he had broken. |
7 September 1875 | Explosion | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 2 |
| New Tredegar Colliery Explosion, 1875 A minor gas explosion at New Tredegar Colliery on 2 December 1875 injured two men. The workings were inspected, found free of gas, and the manager nonetheless ordered that nobody should go down for twenty-four hours. His order was disregarded, the men descended the next morning under the overman's instructions, and at eight o'clock a second explosion killed twenty outright. Two more died later, making twenty-two. |
3 December 1875 | Explosion | Caerphilly | 22 |
| Lan Colliery explosion, 1875 At about half past nine on 6 December 1875 firedamp exploded in the Brass Vein workings of T. W. Booker and Co.'s Lan Colliery at Gwaelod-y-garth, near Pentyrch, killing twelve men and boys outright; four more died within a fortnight. |
6 December 1875 | Explosion | Cardiff | 16 |
| Swaithe Main Colliery explosion, 1875 At about 9.40 a.m. on 6 December 1875 firedamp exploded in the Barnsley seam at Swaithe Main Colliery, near Barnsley, killing 143 men and boys. Seventy to eighty escaped through the connected Edmunds Main shaft. The jury could not say how the gas was fired but found the rules had not been kept and gunpowder recklessly used. |
6 December 1875 | Explosion | South Yorkshire | 143 |
| Methley Junction Colliery explosion, 1875 On 9 December 1875 a fall of roof released gas that exploded in the Haigh Moor seam at H. Briggs and Son's Methley Junction Colliery, near Normanton, killing six. The men went down with safety lamps but changed to candles later in the shift. |
9 December 1875 | Explosion | West Yorkshire | 6 |
| Jamage Colliery explosion, 1876 At about half past four on the afternoon of 5 January 1876 an explosion tore through the Seven Feet Banbury seam of the Jammage pits at Talke, killing all five men working there and blowing the cage at the pit head into the headgear. A stopping had been opened to let material down, cutting off the air, and gas that had gathered for hours was fired by a shot in Daniel Darlington's place. The jury called the pit's discipline very lax and asked for gunpowder to be banned where safety lamps were used. |
5 January 1876 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 5 |
| Silverdale Colliery Sheriff Pit explosion, 1876 At about 3 p.m. on 6 April 1876 a shot fired in the Seven Feet seam of Stanier's Sheriff Pit at Silverdale ignited a little gas and a quantity of coal dust in the dry workings, killing five colliers, among them the fireman Thomas Wright. |
1876 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 5 |
| Birley Vale Colliery Explosion, 1876 Six men died on the morning of 26 June 1876 when colliers carrying naked lights fired gas that had gathered in an exploring heading at Birley Vale Colliery near Sheffield. The men had been using locked safety lamps until two days earlier, when the under-viewer reported the ventilation improved and the manager left the choice of lights to his discretion. Neither he nor the fireman had walked to the end of the heading. The Yorkshire jury returned manslaughter against the fireman. |
26 June 1876 | Explosion | South Yorkshire | 6 |
| Wheatley Hill Colliery explosion, 1876 On 26 September 1876 an explosion of gas killed four at Wheatley Hill Colliery, in County Durham, and they were buried together at Thornley. |
26 September 1876 | Explosion | County Durham | 4 |
| Fordell Colliery boiler explosion, 1876 A steam boiler exploded at Fordell Colliery's William Pit near Dunfermline on 30 September 1876, killing four people outright — mostly young women sheltering near the boiler house during a work stoppage — with a possible fifth victim dying later of her injuries. |
30 September 1876 | Explosion | Fife | 4 |
| Cwmtillery Colliery Explosion, 1876 An explosion at Cwmtillery Colliery on 18 December 1876 killed either sixteen or twenty-three men and boys, depending on which account is followed. It was the worst and the last of four underground explosions at the colliery in twenty years. |
18 December 1876 | Explosion | Blaenau Gwent | 23 |
| Great Boys Colliery Explosion, 1877 A blown-out shot at Great Boys Colliery killed eight men, despite the shot-lighter believing he had cleared the area first — the inquest jury strongly censured the mine's management. |
6 March 1877 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 8 |
| Weigfach Colliery Explosion, 1877 An explosion at the New Weigfach colliery at Fforestfach near Swansea on 9 March 1877 killed eighteen men and boys. The dead included the overman and two trammers aged sixteen and twenty, and most of the men left widows and young children. |
9 March 1877 | Explosion | Swansea | 18 |
| East Cannock Colliery Explosion (1877) A methane explosion at East Cannock Colliery in 1877 killed four boys and four pit horses, and seriously injured two men. |
31 August 1877 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 4 |
| Pemberton Colliery explosion, 1877 On 11 October 1877 firedamp exploded in the Wigan Nine Foot mine of the King pit at Jonathan Blundell & Sons' Pemberton Colliery, killing 36 men and boys, among them the manager and two other officials who went to help. The jury blamed a blown-out shot in Rutter's place. |
11 October 1877 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 36 |
| Blantyre Mining Disaster A firedamp explosion tore through Pits No. 2 and No. 3 of William Dixon's colliery at High Blantyre on the morning of 22 October 1877, killing 207 men and boys -- the worst mining disaster in Scottish history. |
22 October 1877 | Explosion | South Lanarkshire | 207 |
| Whiston Colliery explosion, 1878 On Sunday 17 February 1878 an explosion at Whiston Colliery, near Prescot, killed seven men who were sealing off a fire caused by spontaneous combustion in the Main Delf. The jury returned accidental death and praised the manager's efforts. |
17 February 1878 | Explosion | Merseyside | 7 |
| Unity Brook Colliery explosion Gas escaping from a roof fall exploded in the lower Cannel mine at Unity Brook Colliery, Kearsley, killing forty-three men and boys — the worst day in the town’s history. Nineteen were buried at the parish church. The jury returned accidental death, praised the management, and refused to recommend safety lamps in place of the naked candles the pit worked by. |
12 March 1878 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 43 |
| Apedale Colliery Explosion, 1878 An explosion at the No. 1 Burley Pit of Apedale Colliery, near Newcastle-under-Lyme, killed twenty-three men and boys — the worse of two major explosions to strike the pit within a decade. |
27 March 1878 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 23 |
| Brynmally Colliery (Forsygo pit) explosion, 1878 On 30 May 1878 an explosion of gas in the No. 6, or Forsygo, pit of Thomas Clayton's Brynmally Colliery near Wrexham, also called Pendwll, killed six colliers. |
1878 | Explosion | Wrexham | 6 |
| Wood Pit Explosion, 1878 An underground gas explosion at Wood Pit, Haydock, killed 189 men and boys — one of the deadliest mining disasters in English history, and the worst to strike the Haydock Collieries complex. |
7 June 1878 | Explosion | Lancashire | 189 |
| Abercarn colliery (Prince of Wales) explosion, 1878 A firedamp explosion tore through Prince of Wales Colliery (Abercarn Colliery) on 11 September 1878, killing 268 men and boys — the third-worst death toll in South Wales Coalfield history. |
11 September 1878 | Explosion | Caerphilly | 268 |
| Dinas Colliery explosion, 1879 At twenty to eleven on the night of 13 January 1879 an explosion at Dinas blew a half-ton iron cap off the mouth of the upcast shaft and fixed it in the headgear. Sixty-three men died, and forty-four horses. Two months earlier the colliery's manager, John Chubb, had had his certificate suspended for incompetence and gross negligence in the management of that same colliery, and had been reappointed as overman under a nominal head manager. The jury censured the owners for it; the inspector called the arrangement a practical ignoring of the court's judgement. |
13 January 1879 | Explosion | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 63 |
| Fitzwilliam Main Colliery Explosion An explosion of firedamp in the dip levels on the west side of Fitzwilliam Main Colliery, near Hemsworth in the West Riding, on the morning of 25 January 1879. The pit had been open less than a year, gas had scarcely been seen in it, and the men were allowed to work by naked light. A fall is thought to have released gas from a thin coal left in the roof, which fired at a naked flame. Two colliers died at once and three others later; the inspector afterwards pressed the owner to introduce safety lamps throughout. |
25 January 1879 | Explosion | West Yorkshire | 5 |
| Victoria Colliery 'Deep Drop' explosion, 1879 Soon after ten on the night of 4 March 1879 firedamp exploded in the west bord of the Silkstone or 'Deep Drop' pit, 475 yards deep, at Robert Hudson and Co.'s Victoria Colliery, Stanley, near Wakefield. Twenty-one died; the jury found the gas fired at a naked light. |
4 March 1879 | Explosion | West Yorkshire | 21 |
| Ffrwd Colliery Gas Explosion, 1879 In March 1879 an explosion of gas killed two workers, one of them a teenager, at Ffrwd Colliery, near Wrexham in Denbighshire. |
March 1879 | Explosion | Wrexham | 2 |
| Blantyre Colliery Explosion, 1879 A second firedamp explosion at Dixon's Blantyre No. 1 pit, less than two years after the catastrophic 1877 disaster at the same colliery group, killed 28 men and boys. |
2 July 1879 | Explosion | South Lanarkshire | 28 |
| Leycett Colliery explosion, 1879 A firedamp explosion in the Fair Lady Pit at Leycett on 12 September 1879 killed eight men driving new roads on the north side. The manager had been away from the pit for ten days, the levels had been driven beyond their intended limit, and both he and the contractor were convicted afterwards. |
12 September 1879 | Explosion | Staffordshire | 8 |
| Kersley Colliery explosion, 1879 On Christmas Eve 1879 an outburst of gas after a fall of roof fired at the naked lights in the Plodder mine of Samuel Scowcroft and Sons' colliery at Kersley, near Bolton. Eleven men and boys died, several of them of burns over the following days. |
24 December 1879 | Explosion | Greater Manchester | 11 |