Home Farm Colliery shaft accident, 1894

At 9.20 on the night of 27 June 1894 three shaftmen at Home Farm Colliery, Larkhall, were on a scaffold hung from a crane rope in the shaft, repairing the slides below the Main Coal. Unable to lift the load in single power, the cranemen tried to shift the gearing with the scaffold still hanging, threw the crane out of gear, and the load ran away. The scaffold fell 39 fathoms and all three were killed. The Inspector blamed inexperience and a badly designed crane.

Cause

The crane lowering the shaftmen's scaffold was thrown out of gear while its crew shifted it from single to double power under load, and the scaffold ran away down the shaft.

Contributing factors

The crane, recently re-erected at the pit, was seriously defective in construction and should not have been used for men; the night pit-headman had not examined it, and neither he nor the engineman had much experience of crane work. They did not lock the crane by spragging before changing gear.

What happened

The shaftmen went down in the dip cage to the Main Coal, transferred their tools to a scaffold on the plates, and had it swung into the shaft on the crane rope. When they signalled to be raised a little further the cranemen found the load too heavy for single power. One held up the keeper while the other pulled the crank shaft across; the pinion stuck, he shook the crank, and it slipped right through the spur wheel. A piece of timber was jammed in as a brake without effect, and the scaffold fell to the Virtuewell coal with the wire rope wrenched off the barrel on top of the men.

Investigation & inquiry

The Inspector of Mines reported that the accident was directly due to shifting the gearing under load, and that the crane could readily have been made safe by fitting a collar to the crank shaft.

Changes to practice & legislation

The Inspector's report set out how such cranes should be altered, with a collar on the crank shaft preventing the pinion leaving gear, before being used to raise or lower men.

Recorded claims

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

• Three shaftmen were killed on 27 June 1894 when a scaffold fell in the shaft owing to a crane running amain. ^1,2
• The cranemen, trying to shift the crane into double power with the loaded scaffold hanging, threw it out of gear; the load ran away and the scaffold with three shaftmen fell 39 fathoms to the Virtuewell coal, the wire rope coming down on them. ³
• The Inspector blamed the inexperience of the night pit-headman and engineman, who shifted the gearing without first locking the crane, and found the crane seriously defective in construction; a collar on the crank shaft would have made the accident impossible. ³

Related terminology

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

• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “The shaftmen went down in the dip cage to the Main Coal, transferred their tools to a scaffold on the…”
• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…from a crane rope in the shaft, repairing the slides below the Main Coal. Unable to lift the load in single power, the cranemen tried to…”
• Fathom (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “…the crane out of gear, and the load ran away. The scaffold fell 39 fathoms and all three were killed. The Inspector blamed inexperience and a…”
• HM Chief Inspector of Mines (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “The Inspector of Mines reported that the accident was directly due to shifting the gearing…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 6 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Colliery, Larkhall, were on a scaffold hung from a crane rope in the shaft, repairing the slides below the Main Coal. Unable to lift the load…”

Sources

1. (primary) Home Farm Colliery — Durham Mining Museum — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Home Farm shaft accident, 27 June 1894 — Durham Mining Museum — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Fatal accidents in mines in Scotland, 1894 — Scottish Mining Website

Record created: 12 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026