Jamage Pit explosion

Coal in a pillar being worked out at Jamage was found slightly warm two days before. The management decided to build the district off and withdrew everyone except the men putting up the stoppings. The stoppings were practically finished when, at about half past nine on the morning of Saturday 25 November 1911, the enclosed area exploded and partially blew them out. Thirty-one people were in the pit. Six died of afterdamp and fourteen were injured.

Cause

A gob fire in the Bullhurst seam. The seam is thick, dry, dusty and gassy, yields gas freely and was well known in the district as peculiarly liable to spontaneous combustion. The explosion took place inside the area being sealed off.

Contributing factors

At the point of the accident the Bullhurst was about twenty feet thick and lay at about one in five. Chief Inspector Redmayne's report emphasised the serious risks of working a thick, dry, dusty and gassy seam known to be liable to spontaneous combustion at a moderate inclination, and the need to lay out the workings and carry on the whole operation in a carefully considered manner. A haphazard method of working, he wrote, must almost necessarily sooner or later end disastrously for both the mine owner and the workmen.

What happened

Two days before the accident a portion of a pillar of coal that was being worked out was found to be slightly warm. Accounts of what was smelt differ: one has the manager finding a trace of gob stink on the Friday, while the manager's own evidence was that he examined the whole of the goaf and found no heating and no gob stink. Either way it was decided to build the district off and withdraw every workman from the pit except those needed to put up the stoppings and carry the materials for them. The stoppings had been practically completed when, at about half past nine on the Saturday morning, an explosion took place within the enclosed area and partially blew some of them out. Thirty-one people were in the pit. Six were killed and fourteen injured. Four of the injured had been burnt; those who died had been poisoned by carbon monoxide. Five were dead when the rescue party reached them and the sixth died as soon as he reached the surface. They were Frederick Leese, Harry Shaw, George Cork, Enoch Edwards, Thomas Chadwick and Joseph Swingewood — Swingewood being the overman who had examined the heating and reported no change.

Investigation & inquiry

R. A. S. Redmayne, H.M. Chief Inspector of Mines, was appointed to hold the investigation into the cause; his report is Cd 6152. The inquest on the six was resumed before Mr Hugh W. Adams at the Wesleyan school in Audley on Monday 11 December 1911. Amos Daniels, the manager, gave evidence that he had examined the whole of the goaf and found no heating and no gob stink, that he had discussed it with Swingewood and they had concluded any heating was due to pressure and that the best thing was to get the coal out as soon as possible. He saw Swingewood again that afternoon and was told there was no change, and arranged for Swingewood and the under-manager James Boon to examine again that night; they reported no change once more. Both questions of parliamentary interest were raised in the Commons on 28 and 29 November.

Changes to practice & legislation

Redmayne's report drew the general lesson rather than a rule: that a thick, dry, dusty and gassy seam liable to spontaneous combustion, lying at a moderate inclination, demands that the workings be laid out and the whole operation carried on in a carefully considered manner.

Recorded claims

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

• The Durham Mining Museum gives the cause as an explosion of firedamp with the ignition caused by a gob fire. Healey Hero, following Chief Inspector Redmayne's report, describes the same thing: an explosion within an area being sealed off because a pillar of coal had been found warm. ^1,2
• Accounts differ on what warning there was. One has the manager discovering a trace of gob stink on the Friday, although no fire was seen. Amos Daniels, the manager, told the inquest that he examined the whole of the goaf and found no heating and no gob stink, and that he and the overman concluded any heating was due to pressure. (disputed) ²
• Frederick Leese, Harry Shaw, George Cork, Enoch Edwards, Thomas Chadwick and Joseph Swingewood. All were overcome by afterdamp; five were dead when the rescue party reached them and the sixth died as soon as he reached the surface. ²

Related terminology

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

• Afterdamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “…blew them out. Thirty-one people were in the pit. Six died of afterdamp and fourteen were injured.”
• Goaf (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the narrative: “…of what was smelt differ: one has the manager finding a trace of gob stink on the Friday, while the manager's own evidence was that he…”
• HM Chief Inspector of Mines (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “R. A. S. Redmayne, H.M. Chief Inspector of Mines, was appointed to hold the investigation into the cause; his report…”
• Overman (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Thomas Chadwick and Joseph Swingewood — Swingewood being the overman who had examined the heating and reported no change.”
• Spontaneous Combustion (contextual relationship)
  Named 6 times in this record, first in the cause: “A gob fire in the Bullhurst seam. The seam is thick, dry, dusty and gassy,…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Jamage Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Jamage Pit Explosion, 25 November 1911 — Healey Hero

Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 11 September 2026