Mesne Lea Colliery explosion, 1867

At 6.30 a.m. on 30 May 1867 gas that had gathered overnight in the Rams Seven Feet mine at Peter Nightingale and Co.'s Mesne Lea Colliery, Worsley, fired when a man went in with a naked light ahead of the fireman's morning examination. Seven were killed.

Cause

Gas accumulated overnight through a cramped cut-through and misplaced ventilation tubing, fired at a naked light carried in before the fireman's examination.

Contributing factors

Flexible tubing used instead of brattice and left in the wrong cut-through; men entering before the examination; naked lights.

What happened

A new cut-through had been made the evening before, but it was small, and the flexible tubing used instead of brattice had been left stowed in the previous cut-through, so too little air passed during the night. The seam lay 180 yards down, and 140 men in that part of the colliery started at 6 a.m. The custom was for the men to wait at the pit bottom while the fireman, Enoch Yates, made his round; that morning some followed him in with naked lights, and the explosion came at the far end of the jig brow. The inspector, Joseph Dickinson, thought a door might also have been left open in the night.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The jury at the Swan with Two Necks found that one or more of the dead entered with naked lights before the fireman's daily examination, and recommended that the men wait long enough for the fireman to finish.

Recorded claims

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

• The explosion of firedamp in the Rams Seven Feet mine on 30 May 1867 killed seven. ^1,2
• The new cut-through was small and the flexible tubing used instead of brattice was stowed in the previous one, leaving too little air. ^1,2
• A man went in before the fireman had made his examination and the gas ignited. ¹
• The jury recommended that a proper time should elapse before the men descend, so the fireman could finish his work. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…in the Rams Seven Feet mine at Peter Nightingale and Co.'s Mesne Lea Colliery, Worsley, fired when a man went in with a naked light ahead of the…”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Worsley, fired when a man went in with a naked light ahead of the fireman's morning examination. Seven were killed.”
• Haulage (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…in with naked lights, and the explosion came at the far end of the jig brow. The inspector, Joseph Dickinson, thought a door might also have…”
• Naked Light (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Co.'s Mesne Lea Colliery, Worsley, fired when a man went in with a naked light ahead of the fireman's morning examination. Seven were killed.”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Mesne Lea Colliery Explosion - Worsley - 1867 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Mesne Lea, 30 May 1867 — Durham Mining Museum

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