Kinneil Colliery inundation, 1857

On 7 August 1857 the advance mine in the under coal of No. 24 Pit at Kinneil Ironworks, near Linlithgow, holed into the flooded workings of a colliery abandoned some ninety years before, and two men and two boys were drowned.

Cause

An inrush of water from old flooded workings, holed into because no bores were kept ahead of the workings in the under coal.

What happened

It was well known that the old colliery's workings held a body of water: a steam engine stood on one of its pits, pumping water out to supply a distillery. When the upper coal was worked from No. 24 Pit, three horizontal bores were kept ahead towards the old pit, and one of them reached the waste 120 yards from No. 24. In the under coal no bores were kept, and the advance mine went straight through into the waste 53 yards from the pit, 67 yards further to the dip than the upper coal workings had gone. The water drowned the colliers Joseph Aird and John Hamilton and the drawers Robert Russell and John Hastie.

Investigation & inquiry

The inspector of mines found there had been a great want of ordinary precaution on the part of the manager in not causing bores to be kept in advance of the workings.

Recorded claims

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

• On 7 August 1857 two colliers and two drawers were drowned at No. 24 Pit, Kinneil Ironworks, when their workings broke into the waste of an old colliery standing full of water. ^1,2
• The old workings had been abandoned about ninety years before and no plan showed their extent, though it was well known they held water, a steam engine on one of the old pits pumping from them to supply a distillery. ¹
• Bores had been kept ahead of the workings in the upper coal, but none in the under coal, whose advance mine went through into the water 53 yards from No. 24 Pit; the inspector blamed the manager's want of ordinary precaution. ¹
• The pit belonged to William Wilson and Company. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Borehole (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…When the upper coal was worked from No. 24 Pit, three horizontal bores were kept ahead towards the old pit, and one of them reached the…”
• HM Chief Inspector of Mines (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “The inspector of mines found there had been a great want of ordinary precaution on the part…”
• Inrush (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “An inrush of water from old flooded workings, holed into because no bores were…”
• Old Workings (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…were kept ahead towards the old pit, and one of them reached the waste 120 yards from No. 24. In the under coal no bores were kept, and the…”
• Putter (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…The water drowned the colliers Joseph Aird and John Hamilton and the drawers Robert Russell and John Hastie.”

Sources

1. (secondary) 1857 Fatal Accidents — Scottish Mining Website
2. (primary) Kinneil Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 21 October 2026 · Last researched: 21 October 2026