Laffack Colliery explosion, 1857

Early on 20 May 1857 Henry Winlow, the fireman at Laffack Colliery, St Helens, went to check that a stopping holding back gas in a tunnel in the Rushy Park Mine was tight. The gas exploded at his lamp, killing him and John Heaton. The inspector said the tunnel should have been ventilated, not stopped.

Cause

Gas held back in a tunnel by a stopping exploded at the fireman's lamp as he examined the stopping.

Contributing factors

A gassy tunnel sealed with a stopping instead of being ventilated.

What happened

A tunnel at Laffack, leading towards the Garswood mines, had been giving off a great deal of gas, and rather than ventilate it the colliery had closed it off with a stopping. At about six in the morning Henry Winlow, the fireman and deputy underlooker, went down to inspect the state of the mine and went to see whether the stopping was tight. The gas behind it exploded at his lamp.

Winlow and John Heaton, who left a wife and five or six children, were found in the tunnel crushed and burned, with the bottom of the lamp lying not far off. The local paper called the cause a mystery; the inspector, Peter Higson, put it down to the gas being bottled up by the stopping, the same cause as an earlier accident that year, and said it was much better to ventilate such places than to let gas accumulate.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest was held at the Ship Inn, St Helens. H.M. Inspector Peter Higson found that the gas had been bottled up in the tunnel by a stopping and that the tunnel should have been ventilated.

Recorded claims

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

• On 20 May 1857 Henry Winlow, fireman, and John Heaton were killed by an explosion of firedamp at Messrs J. and J. Johnson's Laffack Colliery. ^1,2
• Gas had been bottled up in a tunnel by a stopping, and it exploded at Winlow's lamp when he went to see if the stopping was tight. ^1,2
• The inspector held that the tunnel, which was giving off a great quantity of gas, should have been ventilated rather than stopped off. ²
• The bodies were found, crushed and burned, in the tunnel leading towards the Garswood mines in the Rushy Park Mine. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “Early on 20 May 1857 Henry Winlow, the fireman at Laffack Colliery, St Helens, went to check that a stopping holding back gas in a…”
• Deputy (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…stopping. At about six in the morning Henry Winlow, the fireman and deputy underlooker, went down to inspect the state of the mine and went to…”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “Early on 20 May 1857 Henry Winlow, the fireman at Laffack Colliery, St Helens, went to check that a stopping…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Laffack Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Laffack, 20 May 1857 — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026