Llanerch Colliery Explosion, 1890

On the morning of 6 February 1890 a gas explosion in Cook's slope at Llanerch Colliery, Abersychan, killed 176 men and boys — one of the worst disasters in the history of Welsh mining. Two months earlier the colliery's managing director had written that the pit was thoroughly well ventilated and safe to work with naked lights, declining the Inspector of Mines' advice to bring in closed safety lamps after an explosion the previous October.

Cause

A naked light igniting an accumulation of gas in the No. 4 level off Cook's slope, in the Meadow Vein seam.

Contributing factors

An explosion at the colliery on 19 October 1889 caused no deaths but badly burned two men, and prompted the Inspector of Mines to advise the owners to introduce closed safety lamps. In a letter dated 5 December 1889, Edward Jones, the colliery's managing director, replied: “At present we think the colliery is thoroughly well ventilated and safe to work with naked lights.” The explosion followed two months later. A steam-driven ventilation fan had been installed in 1888.

What happened

The explosion happened in the part of the mine known as Cook's slope, in the Meadow Vein seam. Four levels were driven off the slope, and it was in the No. 4 level that the gas was ignited. One hundred and seventy-six men and boys were killed. The dead came overwhelmingly from the villages immediately around the pit — Pontnewynydd, Snatchwood, Pentwyn Tips, Pentrepiod, Abersychan — and whole families went at once: three of the Ashman brothers, aged twenty, twenty-two and seventeen, were all killed. So were boys of fifteen. A photograph taken at the pithead afterwards shows the survivors. Coal-getting resumed on Wednesday 19 February, thirteen days after the explosion, when about two hundred men and boys went down.

Investigation & inquiry

The 1889 correspondence between the Inspector of Mines and the colliery's managing director, which had settled the question of naked lights two months before the explosion, is the documentary heart of the case. No report of the formal inquiry into the 1890 explosion has been read for this record.

Memorials & commemoration

Graves of victims are found in many of the churches and chapels of the Pontypool and Abersychan area.

Recorded claims

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

• 176 men and boys were killed. (high) ^1,2,3
• The explosion occurred in Cook's slope, in the Meadow Vein seam; four levels were driven off the slope and the gas was ignited in the No. 4 level. (high) ¹
• After an explosion on 19 October 1889 that badly burned two men, the Inspector of Mines advised the owners to introduce closed safety lamps. A letter of 5 December 1889 signed by the managing director Edward Jones replied that “At present we think the colliery is thoroughly well ventilated and safe to work with naked lights.” (high) ¹
• Ordinary coal-getting resumed at the colliery on Wednesday 19 February 1890, when about two hundred men and boys went down. (high) ¹

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named 6 times in this record, first in the summary: “…of 6 February 1890 a gas explosion in Cook's slope at Llanerch Colliery, Abersychan, killed 176 men and boys — one of the worst disasters in…”
• Level (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “A naked light igniting an accumulation of gas in the No. 4 level off Cook's slope, in the Meadow Vein seam.”
• Naked Light (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “A naked light igniting an accumulation of gas in the No. 4 level off Cook's slope,…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Llanerch Colliery, Abersychan — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Llanerch Colliery disaster: death roll, 6 February 1890 — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (primary) Llanerch Colliery Explosion 1890 — People's Collection Wales

Record created: 3 September 2026 · Last researched: 3 September 2026