Garswood Park Colliery explosion, 1867

Fifteen months after the first explosion, the Little Delf mine at Garswood Park blew again about noon on 20 August 1867, killing fourteen — everyone at work in the top level. Among them was Joseph Topping, the sixty-four-year-old fireman who had survived 1866 and who had been seen a few minutes before going to fire a shot for the collier Henry Winstanley. Peter Higson's own test in the workings afterwards showed the place foul within ten minutes of the brattice coming down.

Cause

Firedamp allowed to accumulate at the face because the brattice had not been kept up, ignited by a shot that blew out — the powder removing little or no coal and producing a large, extended flame.

Contributing factors

The brattice was carried a great distance up a narrow, low road in a seam only three feet thick, the air borne up by a double cloth door. The inspector's view was that a cut-through opened in the middle of the distance would have dispensed with a great length of brattice and made the place safer, but the ground was bad and the object had been to avoid working in it. One fireman, Topping, had to fire the shots for five men.

What happened

The Little Delf was the deepest of four seams, about three feet thick, 440 yards from the surface, and the workings ran a thousand yards from the pit eye. Two colliers, Henry Winstanley and John Halsall, were working in separate places in the rise workings on the north-eastern boundary. No one was allowed to fire a shot until the fireman had examined the place with a safety lamp, and Joseph Topping was a very experienced man. At about nine in the morning the underlooker Samuel Mather and his assistant Paul Lea were in Winstanley's place measuring up when Topping told them the ventilation was 'very brisk'. A few minutes before the report was heard he was seen in the No. 5 level going to fire a shot for Winstanley. His shift would have ended at noon and another fireman would have taken over. At the surface a rush of air told of it, then terrified men came flocking to the pit eye to be drawn up. The Liverpool Mercury described St Helens 'thrown into a fever of excitement on the news becoming known, and crowds rushed to the scene of the catastrophe, which is about three miles distant'.

Rescue & recovery

Thomas Molyneux and his son, senior and junior underground managers, and William Tickle, the surface manager, led the volunteers. It was slow, and dark before the bodies were recovered; they came up in three windings of the cage and were laid out in the club room of the Hare and Hounds. Two more, in a brow full of chokedamp, were not brought out until one o'clock the following morning. Higson, the inspector, was at the Vron pits in North Wales and heard of it by telegram; by the time he reached the colliery every man was out and the ventilation partly restored.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest was held at the Hare and Hounds before Mr Driffield, the coroner. Higson reported that the evidence gave 6,000 cubic feet of air a minute from the downcast, and that his own repeated measurements found no gas when 4,500 were passing. There was no sign of a sudden discharge — only 'an empty shothole 20 inches deep, out of which the powder had blown the ramming, removing little, if any of the coal'. He then ran the test himself: 'It caused the current of air to be shut off, taking down a portion of the brattice, to discover how soon the place would become foul at the extremity. In 10 minutes I perceived a slight blue cap on the flame of my lamp, which increased in magnitude very slowly for some time, gradually approaching the point of danger. On the brattice being readjusted the level became quickly cleared, sweet and cool.' Gas, he concluded, had been negligently suffered to accumulate because Winstanley had not maintained the brattice, and had been fired by the shot. Whether Winstanley fired it himself before Topping arrived, or whether Topping found the brattice down, replaced it and lit the fuse before the current had cleared the gas, there was no proof: everyone in that part of the mine was dead. Winstanley lay in the upbrow a little nearer the face than Topping, but Topping's lamp was nearer the shothole than either man, and it was unlocked.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The jury returned an open verdict, coupled with the view that in future working the bratticing should not be carried so great a distance, and that every precaution was called for in appointing firemen and in improving the discipline of the mine.

Changes to practice & legislation

Higson's ten-minute experiment is the record's own argument: a face at the end of a long brattice in a three-foot seam was foul within minutes of the air being interrupted, and a cut-through would have removed the need for most of the brattice.

Memorials & commemoration

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Higson concluded that gas had been negligently allowed to accumulate because the brattice had not been maintained, and was ignited by a shot which blew out and produced a large extended flame; he could not establish whether Winstanley or Topping fired it, every man in that part of the mine being dead. ¹
• Topping's lamp was found nearer the shothole than either man's body, and it was unlocked. ¹
• Fourteen died - everyone at work in the top level. The Durham Mining Museum's roll for the explosion carries fifteen names against a stated toll of fourteen. ^1,2,3
• The jury returned an open verdict, adding that the bratticing should not in future be carried so great a distance and that every precaution was called for in the appointment of firemen and the discipline of the mine. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Brattice (contextual relationship)
  Named 9 times in this record, first in the summary: “…workings afterwards showed the place foul within ten minutes of the brattice coming down.”
• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s rescue and recovery: “…the bodies were recovered; they came up in three windings of the cage and were laid out in the club room of the Hare and Hounds. Two more,…”
• Chokedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s rescue and recovery: “…in the club room of the Hare and Hounds. Two more, in a brow full of chokedamp, were not brought out until one o'clock the following morning.…”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…top level. Among them was Joseph Topping, the sixty-four-year-old fireman who had survived 1866 and who had been seen a few minutes before…”
• Safety Lamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…to fire a shot until the fireman had examined the place with a safety lamp, and Joseph Topping was a very experienced man. At about nine in the…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Garswood Park Colliery Explosion – Ashton-in-Makerfield – 1867 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Fearful Colliery Explosion near St Helens, Loss of 14 Lives, Liverpool Mercury, 23 August 1867 — Old Mersey Times
3. (secondary) Colliery Disaster: Garswood Park, 20th August 1867 (David Bromilow and Co.) — Durham Mining Museum

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