Low Hall Colliery explosion, 1869

About four in the afternoon of Monday 15 November 1869 a blown-out shot fired gas in the Six Feet seam of the Moss Hall Coal Company's No. 5 pit at Platt Bridge near Wigan. Twenty-seven died. The coal caught fire, and with no other water to hand the owners tapped the Liverpool Corporation's Rivington aqueduct, which ran within a few yards of the pit, and drowned the mine. Weeks passed before all the bodies could be recovered and the inquest could not conclude until the water was out.

Cause

Firedamp ignited by a shot that blew out its stemming in the Six Feet seam at 275 yards.

Contributing factors

The inspector's surprise was that the ventilation was so very good: he concluded that the gas liberated by the shot was carried on the air current to a naked flame. Whether it was a standing accumulation or a sudden outburst was never established. The fireman had inspected the place shortly before and pronounced it safe; the inspector remarked that if it had been examined carefully the calamity might not have been so great.

What happened

The colliery was new, opened only two years before, and the engines at the No. 6 shaft were unfinished, so all the winding was done at the upcast. Three seams were worked — the Wigan Five Feet, the Wigan Four Feet, and the Six or Nine Feet at 275 yards — and nowhere were the workings more than 350 yards from the pit eye. Four o'clock was stopping time, and not many men were below. The Wrexham and Denbighshire Advertiser's report of 20 November caught the afternoon: 'about four o'clock on Monday afternoon the residents in the rows of cottages were startled by a report as of the discharge of a cannon, and immediately the mouth of No. 5 pit belched forth a dense cloud of smoke and dust, which spread over the whole district. Some of the soot was carried for a distance of a mile with the wind.' The force of it blew a basket out of the shaft into an adjoining field and left the cage's iron plates twisted and torn. Two men were found dead at the mouthing, killed by concussion and blown to the bottom of the shaft. A party under the underlooker went in, and by a quarter to eleven that night eight bodies were up and twenty searchers were in the seam. Then a collier named Sharratt, four hundred yards along one of the main levels, saw at the end of an opening 'a large blaze, as though the coal were on fire', and turned and told his companions to run for their lives. Everyone was brought up. Some on the pit brow thought he had been needlessly alarmed — there were no signs of fire at the surface — and argued for going back in. 'At length Sharratt declared he would say no more about it, and proceeding to a corner of the bank he burst into tears.' In the morning a second party went down the south side and found the coal burning fiercely at the exact point he had named.

Rescue & recovery

With the fire confirmed and no doubt left that the men below were dead, the engineers — among them Caldwell for the proprietors, Knowles of Pearson and Knowles, William Bryham of Rose Bridge, George Gilroy of Ince Hall, and John Higson for his father the inspector — chose to shut off the air rather than fight the fire. The Rivington aqueduct that carried Liverpool's water passed close by; permission to tap it arrived by telegram at one o'clock and the mine was flooded under the water company's supervision. The inspector's own report records what that cost: 'The mine took a long time to unwater, and when an entry could be made it was found to have caused numerous and extensive falls of roof. Weeks elapsed before all the bodies could be recovered.' The dead were laid in an untenanted farmhouse, Low Hall, two hundred yards from the pit. Colliers brought up suffering from afterdamp went down again as soon as they had recovered in the open air, in defiance of the doctor, getting into the cage when his back was turned.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest was held at the Victoria Inn, Platt Bridge, before the county coroner Mr Driffield, and could not be concluded until the pit was clear of water; it was still sitting in March 1870, when the jury heard of the death of Richard Monks, and his widow was called to identify him. The inspector, Peter Higson, reported that even after many separate inspections he had not been able to establish how much air had been circulating before the explosion, because the furnace had not been relit; but from the small extent of the openings, the size of the roads and the natural ventilation he was satisfied it had been ample. The seat of the explosion was a place where a shot had blown out, and the shot-lighter was found dead where he would have retreated for safety.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

Unknown.

Changes to practice & legislation

Higson's account is a plain statement of what flooding a burning mine costs in recovery and in evidence: the falls of roof, the weeks before the dead could be brought out, and an inquiry prolonged so long that the amount of ventilation before the explosion could never be measured.

Memorials & commemoration

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• The inspector attributed the explosion to a shot that blew out its stemming, liberating gas that the ventilation carried to a naked flame; the shot-lighter was found dead where he would have retreated for safety. ^1,2
• Twenty-seven died. The contemporary report of 20 November lists eight bodies recovered, one man seriously injured and eighteen missing, 'in all, twenty-seven'. ^1,2,3
• The fire in the workings was fought by flooding the mine from the Liverpool Corporation's Rivington aqueduct, whose pipes ran within a few yards of the pit. ^1,2,3

Related terminology

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

• Afterdamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s rescue and recovery: “…two hundred yards from the pit. Colliers brought up suffering from afterdamp went down again as soon as they had recovered in the open air, in…”
• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…blew a basket out of the shaft into an adjoining field and left the cage's iron plates twisted and torn. Two men were found dead at the…”
• Outburst (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “…to a naked flame. Whether it was a standing accumulation or a sudden outburst was never established. The fireman had inspected the place shortly…”
• Roof Fall (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the rescue and recovery: “…could be made it was found to have caused numerous and extensive falls of roof. Weeks elapsed before all the bodies could be recovered.' The dead…”
• Stemming (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “Firedamp ignited by a shot that blew out its stemming in the Six Feet seam at 275 yards.”

Sources

1. (secondary) Low Hall Colliery Explosion – Wigan – 1869 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Colliery Disaster: Low Hall, 15th November 1869 (Moss Hall Coal Co.), with the inspector's report — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) Shocking Colliery Accident near Wigan. Colliery on Fire. Loss of Twenty-Seven Lives, Wrexham and Denbighshire Advertiser, 20 November 1869 — Welsh Newspapers Online, National Library of Wales

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