Fawdon Colliery explosion, 1827

On 5 September 1827 an explosion of gas at Fawdon Colliery, north-west of Newcastle, badly burnt three young men, two of whom died soon afterwards.

Date	5 September 1827
Mine	Fawdon Colliery
Region	Tyne and Wear
Type	Explosion
Fatalities	2 (Two young men, not named.)
Injuries	Three young men burnt, two of whom died; the county record gives two killed and three injured.
Context	During active mining

Pencil drawing of a colliery with a tall timber headframe, a raised wooden gantry, whitewashed buildings and two pitmen resting with a dog in the foreground. — The B Pit, Fawdon Colliery, drawn by Thomas Hair eleven years after the explosion (signed and dated 1838) Thomas Harrison Hair, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Cause

An explosion of gas.

What happened

Fawdon Colliery, north-west of Newcastle, opened in 1810 and was worked from several pits, the A, B and Engine Pits among them, by Newmarch Sons and Co. On 5 September 1827 gas exploded in the workings. Three young men were badly burnt, and two of them died shortly afterwards. Their names are not recorded, nor is the pit in which it happened.

Recorded claims

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

On 5 September 1827 an explosion of gas at Fawdon Colliery, near Newcastle, badly burnt three young men, two of whom died shortly afterwards. ^1,2,3
The explosion killed two miners and injured three. ^2,3
The colliery, opened in 1810, was owned by Newmarch Sons and Co. ^2,3

Related terminology

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

Colliery (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “On 5 September 1827 an explosion of gas at Fawdon Colliery, north-west of Newcastle, badly burnt three young men, two of whom…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sykes's Local Records, vol. 2 (Internet Archive) (reference)

John Sykes's register of remarkable events in Northumberland and Durham, with the contemporary account.

View source

Sources

(primary) Local Records; or, Historical Register of Remarkable Events, vol. 2 (J. Sykes, 1866 edition) — Internet Archive
(secondary) Fawdon Colliery B Pit (HER 4002) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)
(secondary) Fawdon Colliery, Engine Pit (HER 4011) — Tyne and Wear HER (Sitelines)

Record created: 5 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026