High Brooks Colliery explosion, 1869

At about seven in the morning of 1 April 1869, a making-up day with the whole workforce below, a blown-out shot fired gas in the Orrell Four Feet mine at Mercer and Evans's High Brooks Colliery, Park Lane, killing 37. It was the pit's second disaster in three years.

Cause

Firedamp ignited by a blown-out shot in the Four Feet workings, where return air from the Five Feet mine was being passed.

Contributing factors

Return air from another seam carried through the workings; shot-firing in a gassy seam.

What happened

The Four Feet, or Arley, mine had been reached through fault after fault and gave off gas, so the colliery used locked lamps and only the firemen could fire shots. Return air from the small Five Feet workings was passed through the Four Feet. Shots had been prepared the evening before, and the fireman Richard Gorton went into the south workings to fire them. About seventy men and boys were below; about half escaped, and some fifteen were brought out alive but badly burnt and suffering from chokedamp.

Rescuers were many, but the air limited how many could go down, and falls in the narrow workings slowed them. Two lads were found where they had fallen over a dead pony trying to escape. The bodies of Gorton and a collier named Leyland lay near the shot hole. Eight of the injured died later. Thirteen widows and thirty children were left, and appeals for them joined those for Haydock's Queen Pit and the Rainford and Hindley Green collieries.

Rescue & recovery

Volunteers explored the south workings as far as the ventilation allowed; falls in the narrow workings delayed the recovery of the bodies.

Recorded claims

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

• The explosion on 1 April 1869 caused the death of 37 persons. ^1,2
• The ignition was caused by a blown-out shot. ²
• The return air from the Orrell five-feet mine was passed through the workings of the four-feet mine. ²
• All the men had locked lamps and only the firemen could fire shots. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Chokedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…fifteen were brought out alive but badly burnt and suffering from chokedamp. Rescuers were many, but the air limited how many could go down,…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…gas in the Orrell Four Feet mine at Mercer and Evans's High Brooks Colliery, Park Lane, killing 37. It was the pit's second disaster in three…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “Firedamp ignited by a blown-out shot in the Four Feet workings, where return…”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…the Four Feet. Shots had been prepared the evening before, and the fireman Richard Gorton went into the south workings to fire them. About…”
• Shot-firing (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “Return air from another seam carried through the workings; shot-firing in a gassy seam.”

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 - 1869 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery Disaster: High Brooks, Park Lane, 1 April 1869 — Durham Mining Museum

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