Houghton Colliery explosion, 1828

Seven men and boys died in the New Pit at Houghton-le-Spring on Monday 1 September 1828 — the first disaster at Lord Durham's colliery, which had been sunk only five years before. The accident was put down to a door in the mine having been carelessly left open on the Saturday night, so that foul air gathered over the weekend and fired when the pitmen came back on Monday morning with their lights. The inquest returned accidental death.

Cause

Foul air accumulated over the weekend because a door in the mine had been left open on the Saturday night, and ignited on the Monday morning at the pitmen's naked lights.

Contributing factors

The explosion is attributed in the contemporary record to the men themselves having incautiously left the door open. Naked lights were in use.

What happened

Houghton Colliery was sunk on land at the north end of the town between 1823 and 1827 and belonged to Lord Durham; it would grow to employ over a thousand hands by 1894 and did not close until 1981. The explosion of 1 September 1828 was its first recorded disaster, in the New Pit, on a Monday morning. Three men and four boys were killed. The men were George Smith, aged thirty-two, and Thomas Bradley, twenty-eight, both of Houghton, and John Wilkin, twenty-four, of Philadelphia — the pit village a mile to the north. The names of the boys were not learned by the account that came down to NMRS through Galloway's Annals and Sykes's Local Records, and the museum's list for the disaster carries the same three men.

Rescue & recovery

Unknown.

Investigation & inquiry

A coroner's inquest was held on view of the bodies and returned a verdict of accidental death.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

Unknown.

Changes to practice & legislation

Twenty-two years later the colliery exploded again, on 11 November 1850, killing twenty-six or twenty-seven; the museum records that second explosion as firedamp and coal dust ignited by a safety lamp.

Memorials & commemoration

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• Seven died - three men and four boys. NMRS names the three men, George Smith aged 32, Thomas Bradley aged 28 and John Wilkin aged 24, and records that the names of the boys were not learned; the Durham Mining Museum's list for the 1828 disaster carries the same three names. ^1,2
• The Houghton-le-Spring Heritage Society's colliery timeline records the explosion of 1 September 1828 as having taken seven lives. ³
• The accident is attributed to the men having incautiously left a door in the mine open on the Saturday night, so that foul air accumulated in the workings and exploded on the Monday morning at their lights. ²

Related terminology

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

• Bad Air (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…mine having been carelessly left open on the Saturday night, so that foul air gathered over the weekend and fired when the pitmen came back on…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…on Monday 1 September 1828 — the first disaster at Lord Durham's colliery, which had been sunk only five years before. The accident was put…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s changes to practice: “…or twenty-seven; the museum records that second explosion as firedamp and coal dust ignited by a safety lamp.”
• Naked Light (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “…Saturday night, and ignited on the Monday morning at the pitmen's naked lights.”
• Safety Lamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s changes to practice: “…records that second explosion as firedamp and coal dust ignited by a safety lamp.”

Sources

1. (secondary) Houghton Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Houghton-le-Spring Colliery Explosion – Houghton-le-Spring – 1828 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (secondary) Houghton Colliery (Houghton Heritage Society) — Houghton Heritage Society

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 20 September 2026