Harraton Colliery explosion, 1808

A firedamp explosion at Harraton Colliery's Row Pit on 29 November 1808 killed at least four men, including the overman, and left fourteen burnt, some fatally, after a party carrying a lit torch through old workings strayed near a pair of leaking dams; a second explosion during the rescue attempt killed the overman and two companions.

Cause

An accident to machinery at the 6th Pit sent sixteen men and boys travelling through old workings to the Row Pit by torchlight. They strayed near a pair of dams sealing off a large area of workings charged with firedamp; gas had built up from leakage through the dams, which had no relieving pipe, and it ignited.

What happened

On 29 November 1808, an accident to machinery at Harraton Colliery's 6th Pit sent sixteen men and boys travelling through old workings towards the Row Pit, carrying a torch, or low rope, to light their way. They strayed near a pair of dams sealing off a considerable area of workings charged with firedamp; gas had accumulated there through leakage from the unrelieved dams, and it exploded. Those only lightly hurt made their way to the Row Pit, but the more seriously burnt were left where they fell. The leaking gas fuelled several further explosions at intervals, felt half a mile away at the pit-top. When these seemed to have subsided, the overman and others went down to search for the injured and dead — but as they reached the dams, where fire still burned along their length, another explosion killed the overman, Thomas Defty, and two companions. The following day a larger party recovered all the bodies but one, a boy's, found the day after. Some bodies were barely burnt. Believing the coal itself alight, the pits were sealed for about seven weeks; when reopened and examined by the light of steel mills, a pony was found alive in the workings.

Investigation & inquiry

No formal inquiry existed in 1808; the fullest account is a contemporary report reproduced by Galloway's Annals of Coal Mining (Vol. 1, p.400) and the Transactions of the Historical Society of Northumberland, also drawing on the Newcastle Courant and Dunn's Winning and Working.

Memorials & commemoration

No memorial has been found for this disaster.

Recorded claims

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

• DMM records '4+ lives lost'; NMRS's account names the overman Thomas Defty and three others as killed, with fourteen more burnt, some of whom may not have survived -- the eventual toll was likely higher than four but is not precisely established. (uncertain) ¹

Related terminology

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

• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…found the day after. Some bodies were barely burnt. Believing the coal itself alight, the pits were sealed for about seven weeks; when…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “A firedamp explosion at Harraton Colliery's Row Pit on 29 November 1808 killed at least four men, including…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “A firedamp explosion at Harraton Colliery's Row Pit on 29 November 1808 killed…”
• Overman (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Row Pit on 29 November 1808 killed at least four men, including the overman, and left fourteen burnt, some fatally, after a party carrying a lit…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Harraton Colliery Row Pit Explosion - Harraton - 1808 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum: Harraton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 4 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026