High Brooks Colliery explosion, 1866

Early on 23 January 1866 firedamp exploded in the Four Foot seam at Turner and Evans's High Brooks Colliery, Park Lane, Ashton-in-Makerfield, killing thirty men and boys. The fireman had just finished his rounds and found everything 'clear as a bell'.

Cause

An explosion of firedamp in the Four Foot (Arley) seam.

What happened

The two shafts, forty yards apart, worked the Orrell Five Foot at 290 yards and the Wigan Four Foot a little below, though a fault had thrown the Four Foot sixty yards up where the shaft met it. That seam, the Arley mine of other districts and known to be fiery, had been worked for about two years by nearly forty men and boys. The fireman, William Marsh, inspected before work and had gone to the pit eye to eat when a great rush of wind told him there had been an explosion. It lifted the hooker-on off his feet and blew his cap into the Five Foot mine.

Three or four drawers were found at the top of the brow and the rest of the dead at their working places. The bodies were laid out in the fitting shop for identification and buried that weekend. John Marsh, a collier of fifty, died with two of his sons. Eleven widows and forty children were left; a relief fund allowed widows five shillings a week while they stayed unmarried.

Rescue & recovery

All thirty bodies were recovered, laid out in the colliery fitting shop, and identified by relatives.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest took identification evidence and adjourned to 7 February 1866.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

A relief fund paid widows five shillings a week while they remained unmarried and a shilling a week for each child until old enough to work.

Recorded claims

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

• The explosion on 23 January 1866 killed thirty. ^1,2
• The fireman William Marsh had just examined the workings and found everything clear. ¹
• The explosion was in the Four Foot seam, the fiery Arley mine of other districts, thrown sixty yards up by a fault. ¹
• Eleven widows and forty children were left; widows received five shillings a week while unmarried. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “Early on 23 January 1866 firedamp exploded in the Four Foot seam at Turner and Evans's High Brooks…”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…Park Lane, Ashton-in-Makerfield, killing thirty men and boys. The fireman had just finished his rounds and found everything 'clear as a bell'.”
• Onsetter (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…rush of wind told him there had been an explosion. It lifted the hooker-on off his feet and blew his cap into the Five Foot mine. Three or…”
• Putter (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…his feet and blew his cap into the Five Foot mine. Three or four drawers were found at the top of the brow and the rest of the dead at their…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “The two shafts, forty yards apart, worked the Orrell Five Foot at 290 yards and the…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) High Brooks Colliery Explosion - Ashton-in-Makerfield - 1866 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery Disaster: High Brooks, Park Lane, 23 January 1866 — Durham Mining Museum

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