Leycett Colliery explosion, 1880

At about half past eight on the morning of 21 January 1880 a blown-out shot fired firedamp in the Fair Lady pit at Leycett, the Crewe Coal and Iron Company's colliery near Newcastle-under-Lyme, and sixty-two of the seventy or so men below were killed. Among them were H. R. Greener, the manager appointed only in October after a previous explosion, and his son George, the underlooker. The jury found no blame attributable to anyone, and recommended that blasting with powder be discontinued altogether in fiery mines while men were working in them.

Cause

A shot fired in a projecting piece of rock at the end of the South 'Bang Up' level blew out, and its flame ignited firedamp; the blast was then carried through a dry and dusty mine.

Contributing factors

Almost the whole return air from the south side passed within a few yards of where the shot was fired. The level had been driven through a fault and several yards beyond, so the brattice had to come down while the shot was fired. Powder was in wide use on the south side although the company paid sixpence a yard extra for wedging instead. The Fair Lady had exploded once already, on 12 September 1879, killing eight, and on the Monday before this disaster the late manager and one of the men who was now dead were before the Newcastle magistrates for failing to ventilate the mine adequately at that earlier explosion.

What happened

The Fair Lady pit worked the Seven Foot Banbury seam at 410 yards, the workings extending two hundred yards one way and three hundred the other. Seventy-eight lamps had been given out that morning. The explosion came at about half past eight; it lifted the roof off the new fan house, but the fan itself was undamaged and kept turning, which is why the mine could be entered at all. The guide rods in the shaft were wrecked and had to be repaired before anyone could descend, and even then the cage would not go the full depth and ladders were used. Samuel Lawton, manager of the neighbouring Harrison and Woodburn pits, went down with seven men. A cage of survivors reached the surface about noon; after that the cage came up every quarter of an hour with two or three men at a time, most of them badly hurt. Of the twelve brought out alive, five died. In the afternoon the bodies of Greener and his son were found fifty yards along the south slant from the pit bottom. A contemporary account collected by John Lumsdon caught the scale of it: 'At least 70 men (including the newly-appointed manager and his son) went down into the mine; only 12 came out alive.' The bodies were so mutilated that identification turned on a pair of clogs or a wife's knowledge of her husband's red flannel drawers; one was found cut in two with the pieces three yards apart.

Rescue & recovery

Fires had taken hold in the workings and the explorers had to fight them as well as search: Mr Settle, the managing director, who was below for about twenty-four hours, said eleven fires were put out. Air doors had been blown to slivers and bratticing had to be rebuilt as the parties advanced. The last man unaccounted for was Joseph Viggars, the hooker-on, thought to have been knocked through the sump platform; his body was found on the Saturday under shattered woodwork and tubs. Coffins were provided and the dead wrapped in flannel; the women of the district did much of the work. On the Sunday the burials were spread across the district — thirty-three graves at Madeley, about a dozen each at Audley and Keele, others at Talke o' th' Hill, Chesterton and Silverdale.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest opened in the engine house on the Thursday before John Booth, coroner for North Staffordshire, who could hold only one inquiry and adjourned to give the inspector time to examine the mine. It resumed at the Offley Arms, Madeley, on 21 February. Thomas Wynne, H.M. Inspector of Mines, told the court he had examined the mine on 23 January and could come to no other conclusion than that a shot had blown out near the end of the South Bang Up level: a shot had missed fire in a projecting piece of rock and a second had been placed in the same rock to bring down the dead charge. His assistant, Mr Sawyer, argued that gas alone could not have supported a flame of that size, and that coal dust must have been raised and fired. T. Evans, inspector for the Midland district, sent by the Secretary of State, agreed with Wynne.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The jury found that the men had died by an explosion caused by the discharge of a shot in the South No. 1 Bang Up level, and that no blame was attributable to anyone connected with the pit. They recommended that blasting with powder be discontinued altogether in fiery mines while men were working in them, and that there be more frequent underground inspection at uncertain intervals. They also asked the Home Office to pay them for the time the inquiry had taken.

Changes to practice & legislation

The coroner's summing-up put the case bluntly: it was 'a great farce to insist upon the use of safety lamps and the adaptation of other precautions in fiery mines as long as blasting was allowed'. Wynne proposed a working rule — no level or brow to be driven a yard beyond the last thirling until blasting between the last two thirlings was finished, no powder where brattice was needed, and none where places were ventilated by return air from other workings — and warned that unless powder were prohibited by statute in fiery mines, 'hundreds of poor fellows would meet the same fate as the 62 had done at Leycett'.

Memorials & commemoration

The largest group of the dead, thirty-three, lie in Madeley burial ground, where the graves were dug in the slope by the village entrance.

Recorded claims

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

• Wynne, the inspector, concluded the explosion was caused by a blown-out shot near the end of the South 'Bang Up' level, where a first shot had missed fire and a second had been set in the same rock to bring down the dead charge. ^1,2
• Sawyer, the assistant inspector, held that gas alone could not have supported a flame of that size and that coal dust raised by the blast must have been ignited. ²
• Sixty-two men and boys died, of whom five had been brought out alive and died of their injuries. ^1,2,3
• The jury returned a verdict of death by an explosion caused by the discharge of a shot, with no blame attributable to anyone connected with the pit, and recommended that powder blasting be discontinued altogether in fiery mines while men worked in them. ²

Related terminology

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

• Fan House (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…came at about half past eight; it lifted the roof off the new fan house, but the fan itself was undamaged and kept turning, which is why the…”
• Ladders (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…descend, and even then the cage would not go the full depth and ladders were used. Samuel Lawton, manager of the neighbouring Harrison and…”
• Onsetter (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s rescue and recovery: “…advanced. The last man unaccounted for was Joseph Viggars, the hooker-on, thought to have been knocked through the sump platform; his body…”
• Sump (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s rescue and recovery: “…Viggars, the hooker-on, thought to have been knocked through the sump platform; his body was found on the Saturday under shattered…”
• Thirling (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the changes to practice: “…working rule — no level or brow to be driven a yard beyond the last thirling until blasting between the last two thirlings was finished, no…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Leycette Colliery Explosion – Newcastle-under-Lyme – 1880 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Fair Lady Pit Explosion 1880 — North Staffordshire Miners' Group / John Lumsdon
3. (secondary) Fair Lady Pit Explosion, Leycette, 1880 — Healey Hero / John Lumsdon

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