Harraton Row Pit Explosion, 1817

At about eleven in the morning on 30 June 1817 the gas in the Row Pit at Harraton Colliery ignited and thirty-eight men and boys were killed. It was among the most violent explosions of its era: the shaft bottom, 82 fathoms down, was blown into the air along with two of the bodies. Ten of the dead were from a single family — a grandfather, his two sons and seven grandsons.

Cause

Carburetted hydrogen gas ignited by a naked candle used in place of the safety lamp the men had been ordered to work with.

What happened

It happened about eleven o'clock in the forenoon. The gas in the Row Pit fired, and thirty-eight men and boys were killed — of forty-one who were underground. The violence of it was remarked on at the time as among the worst for years. Corves, trams and utensils at the bottom of the shaft, 82 fathoms down, were blown up it into the air, and with them the bodies of two of the workmen: one with the head off, the other cut in two at the middle. All the dead but one, who came from Fatfield, belonged to New Painsher, and were buried there on the Wednesday. Among them were ten of a single family named Hills — the grandfather, his two sons and seven of his grandsons.

Investigation & inquiry

The contemporary account lays the blame squarely on one man, the hewer John Moody, who used a candle where safety lamps had been ordered. A later account describes the same sequence less damningly: Moody ordered to put the candle out and doing so, found with one again and reprimanded, then putting it out and lighting his lamp, the overman having only just left him when the explosion came. The two versions are not reconcilable and both are recorded.

Recorded claims

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

• Thirty-eight men and boys were killed; the Wikipedia account gives them as 38 of the 41 men underground. (medium) ^1,2
• Among the dead were ten belonging to one family, of the name of Hills — the grandfather, his two sons and seven grandsons. (medium) ^1,2
• Corves, trams and several utensils used at the bottom of the shaft, 82 fathoms deep, were blown into the air, together with the bodies of two of the workmen — one with the head off, the other cut in two. (medium) ²
• All the dead except one from Fatfield belonged to New Painsher and were buried there on Wednesday 2 July. (medium) ²
• Richardson's contemporary account says the accident was caused entirely by the perverse obstinacy of a hewer named John Moody, who in defiance of the overman's orders refused to use Davy's lamp and lit a candle, which was twice put out by the workmen he was relieving, and which he re-lit by unscrewing the lamp. A later account has Moody ordered to extinguish the candle and doing so, being found with a candle again and reprimanded, then extinguishing it and lighting his lamp — with the overman having just left him when the explosion occurred. (disputed) ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “…in the morning on 30 June 1817 the gas in the Row Pit at Harraton Colliery ignited and thirty-eight men and boys were killed. It was among the…”
• Hewer (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “The contemporary account lays the blame squarely on one man, the hewer John Moody, who used a candle where safety lamps had been ordered. A…”
• Overman (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “…and reprimanded, then putting it out and lighting his lamp, the overman having only just left him when the explosion came. The two versions…”
• Safety Lamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “…hydrogen gas ignited by a naked candle used in place of the safety lamp the men had been ordered to work with.”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…killed. It was among the most violent explosions of its era: the shaft bottom, 82 fathoms down, was blown into the air along with two of…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Harraton — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) M. A. Richardson, Local Historian's Table Book (1844), on the Harraton Row Pit explosion of 1817 — Durham Mining Museum, quoting Richardson
3. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum: Harraton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 3 September 2026