Mill Close Mine firedamp explosion

Five miners died when a shot-firer's naked flame ignited firedamp gas that had already been detected and flagged as dangerous in the days before the blast.

Cause

Firedamp (methane) had built up in a working known as Stone's place; despite warnings issued after gas was detected on 1-2 November, shot-firing went ahead using a candle flame to light the fuses.

What happened

On 3 November 1887, miners at Mill Close Mine prepared to blast loose ore using two charges of dynamite in Stone's place, an area where gas had been detected and warned against only the previous two days. Fuses were lit from a candle flame carried on a shovel, and the men withdrew around 50 yards before the charges fired. The firedamp gas ignited, and the resulting blast of wind knocked the survivors unconscious. Five men were killed.

Investigation & inquiry

The coroner's jury found the deaths accidental, caused by an explosion of gas ignited by the shot-firing; smaller gas ignitions connected to shot-firing had reportedly occurred in the same working over the preceding year.

Recorded claims

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

• Five miners — Benjamin Boam (23), George William Allen (31), George Stone (31), Job Stone (56) and George Needham (25) — died when firedamp ignited during shot-firing on 3 November 1887. ¹
• The coroner's jury found the deaths accidental; smaller gas ignitions linked to shot-firing in the same working had reportedly occurred over the preceding year. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Mill Close Lead Mine Explosion - Darley Dale - 1887 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 20 August 2026 · Last researched: 20 August 2026