Garswood Hall No. 9 sinking explosion, 1902

Early on 2 April 1902 the No. 9 sinking shaft at Garswood Hall Colliery, Edge Green, had just reached the gassy Ravin seam at 270 yards when gas filling the shaft was fired, almost certainly by the electric light hung in it. The blast wrecked the forty-foot headgear; the banksman and most of the men at the bottom were killed.

Cause

Firedamp from the Ravin seam, filling the shaft, ignited electrically by the shaft lamp or its cable, which had been bared for shotfiring and short-circuited; the fuse failed to blow.

Contributing factors

Work went on after the ventilation had failed to cope with the gas; the air pipe stopped seventeen yards above the bottom; the lamp had been lowered from its safe place the day before; the contractor withdrew the safety lamps used for testing; the inspector had earlier warned him about hurrying the work.

What happened

The shaft, 14 ft 6 in across and being sunk to the Arley mine, had just reached the Ravin seam, which began giving off gas the day after it was cut and in growing volume. Ten or twelve men, sinkers and bricksetters, were at the bottom. Survivors saw flashes from the lamp, whose cable was tangled with the rope. The explosion destroyed the shaft fittings, reduced heavy timber to matchwood, threw timber a hundred yards across the fields and killed the banksman Joseph Naylor at the shaft top. The dead named include the sinkers John Wall, David Jones, Michael Towey and John G. Roberts, the bricksetters Thomas Gilbert and William Hurst, and Kazimierz Ridlewicz, known as Carl Armond.

Rescue & recovery

Rescuers went down in the dark, their lamps put out by the gas, and brought four men up badly scorched to Wigan Infirmary. The inspector stopped Edward Jones and his son going below forty yards. The last bodies were recovered on 6 April, and the shaft stayed full of gas for months until the Ravin gas was piped to the surface.

Investigation & inquiry

The inspector Hall judged it the result of working on after the ventilation had broken down, criticised the certificated manager, and thought the contractor Bradley should have withdrawn the men, not the lamps.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

Unknown.

Changes to practice & legislation

Unknown.

Memorials & commemoration

Unknown.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The names listed by the two sources number nine or ten, and the NMRS narrative counts eight of twelve at the bottom plus the banksman. (disputed) ^2,1

Recorded claims

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

• The same colliery lost twenty-seven people thirty years later, in the explosion of 12 November 1932. ¹
• The explosion in the No. 9 sinking pit on 2 April 1902 killed fourteen and injured fifteen; the museum's disaster index also gives 14 lives lost. ^2,1
• The names listed by the two sources number nine or ten, and the NMRS narrative counts eight of twelve at the bottom plus the banksman. (disputed) ^2,1
• Explosion of fire-damp in the sinking shaft at the Ravine seam, probably ignited by a short circuit of the electric light cable. ^2,1

Related terminology

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

• Banksman (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…light hung in it. The blast wrecked the forty-foot headgear; the banksman and most of the men at the bottom were killed.”
• Headgear (contextual relationship)
  The 40-foot headgear was wrecked.
• Safety Lamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “…from its safe place the day before; the contractor withdrew the safety lamps used for testing; the inspector had earlier warned him about…”
• Shaft Sinking (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “Early on 2 April 1902 the No. 9 sinking shaft at Garswood Hall Colliery, Edge Green, had just reached the…”
• Shot-firing (contributing factor)
  The lamp cable had been bared to fire shots.

Sources

1. (secondary) Garswood Hall Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Garswood Hall Colliery Explosion – Ashton-in-Makerfield 1902 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 21 September 2026