Home Farm Colliery inundation, 1877

Eight days after a fall of roof in the rise workings of the Ell coal let water in from the sand and gravel above, the roof at Home Farm gave way altogether about six on the morning of 23 January 1877 and water, sand and mud rushed to the two shafts. For a quarter of an hour it ran down one shaft only, and more than sixty men escaped by the other; four colliers at the far end of the workings were cut off, and the stream poured down both shafts for ten hours until the mine was full. An eight-acre hollow opened by the river. The bodies were found in October and November 1878, after the pit was pumped out to resume working, in spaces the sand had not filled, with evidence the men had lived for some time.

Cause

The roof of the Ell coal, within 108 feet of the surface near the Clyde, collapsed and let the overlying sand, gravel and water into the workings and down the shafts.

Contributing factors

A fall of roof in the same rise workings eight days earlier had already admitted water the pumps could not master; the men in the Ell were laid idle but the Main coal went on working while the Duke's mineral adviser's remedy was being carried out.

What happened

The colliery worked the Ell, Main and Splint coals at 47, 59 and 72 fathoms from two shafts forty feet apart. On the morning of the 23rd, with the day shift going in, men noticed the air current reversed, then heard a great crash and the roar of water. Some were lifted off their feet; they reached the pit bottom with water three or four feet deep and were wound up with great promptitude. The four men at the remote end of the pit had no time to join them. The inrush was 350 yards from the shaft and within forty or fifty yards of the river. On the surface the ground subsided: the Falkirk Herald reported eight acres and a hollow forty feet deep filled with water, The Times a subsidence of about a hundred feet over about a mile and 400,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel gone into the pit.

Rescue & recovery

Attempts to reach the men by clearing sand out of the Ell coal were abandoned after two days, the calculation being that every hollow in the mine was full. In April 1877 the Home Secretary told the Commons the owners did not contemplate a search and the inspector would object to one. About a year later the company began pumping the chasm dry under the manager William Kirkwood to resume working, and men spent months clearing silt from the roads. On a Sunday in late October 1878, 400 fathoms from the pit bottom in the long level, they found two bodies twenty yards apart, identified by their clothing as David Hynds and John Gregory; a third, taken to be McNeil, was found on the Monday nearer the face, and McAllister's was expected soon after. Three were buried at Larkhall Cemetery. The bodies showed the men had been alive for some time; their stomachs were empty.

Investigation & inquiry

Ralph Moore, Inspector of Mines, reported on 16 February 1877 that the inundation was wholly unexpected, that Mr McCreath, the Duke's mineral adviser and a mining engineer of high standing, had advised after the first fall and his suggestions were being carried out, and that the Procurator Fiscal was making an independent inquiry under Scots law.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

Alexander Macdonald asked the Home Secretary on 10 April 1877 to order the recovery of the bodies and proceedings against the manager for known leakage; Richard Assheton Cross replied that he had no such power and that the Fiscal's report disclosed no culpable neglect by anyone connected with the management, further inquiries confirming that no blame attached to anyone.

Changes to practice & legislation

None recorded in the sources read.

Memorials & commemoration

None known; three of the men were buried at Larkhall Cemetery in November 1878.

Recorded claims

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

• The Ell coal roof, within 108 feet of the surface near the Clyde, collapsed eight days after a first fall had let water in, and sand, gravel and water ran down both shafts for ten hours. ¹
• Four colliers drowned or entombed: John McNeil, David Hinds, John McGregory and John McAllister; their bodies were recovered in October and November 1878. ^1,2
• The Procurator Fiscal's inquiry found no culpable neglect and the Home Secretary said no blame attached to anyone. ³
• The Falkirk Herald reported an eight-acre subsidence forty feet deep; The Times reported about a hundred feet over about a mile and 400,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel. (disputed) ¹

Related terminology

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

• Fathom (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “The colliery worked the Ell, Main and Splint coals at 47, 59 and 72 fathoms from two shafts forty feet apart. On the morning of the 23rd, with…”
• HM Chief Inspector of Mines (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “Ralph Moore, Inspector of Mines, reported on 16 February 1877 that the inundation was wholly…”
• Inrush (direct cause)
  Sand, gravel and water from the surface through a collapsed roof.
• Roof Fall (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “Eight days after a fall of roof in the rise workings of the Ell coal let water in from the sand and…”
• Subsidence (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…acres and a hollow forty feet deep filled with water, The Times a subsidence of about a hundred feet over about a mile and 400,000 cubic yards of…”

Sources

1. (primary) Home Farm 1877 — Scottish Mining Website (Moore's report and newspaper accounts) — Scottish Mining Website
2. (primary) Home Farm inrush, 23 January 1877 — Durham Mining Museum — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Coal Mines (Scotland), the Home Farm Colliery — Hansard, 10 April 1877 — Hansard
4. (primary) Home Farm Colliery — Durham Mining Museum — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 12 September 2026 · Last researched: 12 September 2026