Fenton Park Colliery explosion

Ten men were about to begin the day’s work in one of the Fenton Park pits when firedamp exploded. Seven were killed; the other three were got out alive by the colliery company. Six men had died in the same pit from the same cause within the previous twelve months.

Cause

An explosion of firedamp as the shift was starting work.

Contributing factors

The pit had already killed six men in a firedamp explosion within the previous year, so the gas was a known and recurring hazard rather than a surprise. The colliery’s engineman, George Stevenson, who witnessed the explosion, blamed the wetness of the upcast shaft — the shaft whose warmth drew the ventilating current, and which a wet shaft would weaken.

What happened

Ten men were about to begin their daily labour in one of the pits of the Fenton Park Colliery when firedamp exploded. Seven of them were killed. The other three were brought out alive by the exertions of the Fenton Park Company, which the account describes as hazardous. A similar accident from the same cause had happened in the same pit within the previous twelve months, killing six men and leaving several others severely burned and bruised.

Investigation & inquiry

There was no mines inspectorate in 1806 and no formal investigation is recorded. The account survives because W. R. Clanny — the Sunderland physician who went on to design one of the first safety lamps — collected it among the explosions that made the case for a lamp that would not fire the gas.

Recorded claims

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

• Clanny recorded that in an explosion at the colliery seven were killed and several others injured; the fuller account has ten men about to begin work in one of the pits when firedamp exploded, seven of them killed and the other three saved by the company’s efforts. ¹
• A similar accident from the same cause had occurred in the same pit within the previous twelve months, killing six men and severely burning and bruising several others. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Seven were killed; the other three were got out alive by the colliery company. Six men had died in the same pit from the same cause within…”
• Downcast Shaft and Upcast Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “…Stevenson, who witnessed the explosion, blamed the wetness of the upcast shaft — the shaft whose warmth drew the ventilating current, and which a…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…about to begin the day’s work in one of the Fenton Park pits when firedamp exploded. Seven were killed; the other three were got out alive by…”
• Safety Lamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “…— the Sunderland physician who went on to design one of the first safety lamps — collected it among the explosions that made the case for a lamp…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the contributing factors: “…the explosion, blamed the wetness of the upcast shaft — the shaft whose warmth drew the ventilating current, and which a wet shaft…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (primary) Mining disasters in Great Britain, 1800–1819 — Coalmining History Resource Centre
2. (primary) Fenton: economic history — A History of the County of Stafford, Volume 8 — Victoria County History, via British History Online

Record created: 6 September 2026 · Last researched: 6 September 2026