Moorfield Colliery roof fall, 1909

A stone twelve feet long fell from the roof of a roadway in the Mountain seam at Moorfield Colliery, Altham, on 12 November 1909, killing a fireman and a dataller who were heightening it.

Cause

A fall of roof: a stone 12 ft by 4 ft came away from a strong shale roof with no visible slips, in a roadway being heightened for a chain road.

What happened

On 12 November 1909 men at Moorfield Colliery, Altham, worked by the Altham Colliery Company, were heightening a roadway in the Mountain seam to make it a chain road. A long length of roof had been taken down and the work was almost finished. As Walter Hartley, the 27-year-old fireman, was passing along to leave, a stone 12 feet long and 4 feet wide fell from the roof onto him and Tom Hopkinson, a dataller aged 21, killing both. The roof was a strong shale with no sign of slips, and several experienced men had examined the place without finding danger.

Recorded claims

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

• On 12 November 1909 a fall of roof killed two men at Moorfield Colliery, Altham. ^1,2,3
• The dead were Walter Hartley, 27, fireman, and Tom Hopkinson, 21, dataller. ^1,2,3
• The stone that fell was 12 feet long and 4 feet wide, from a strong shale roof in the Mountain seam, in a roadway being heightened for a chain road. ^1,2
• The colliery was worked by the Altham Colliery Company Ltd. ^1,2

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: “…fell from the roof of a roadway in the Mountain seam at Moorfield Colliery, Altham, on 12 November 1909, killing a fireman and a dataller who…”
• Dataller (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…Colliery, Altham, on 12 November 1909, killing a fireman and a dataller who were heightening it.”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…seam at Moorfield Colliery, Altham, on 12 November 1909, killing a fireman and a dataller who were heightening it.”
• Roof Fall (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “A fall of roof: a stone 12 ft by 4 ft came away from a strong shale roof with no…”

Sources

1. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Moorfields, 12 November 1909 — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Walter Hartley, Altham, Moorfield, 1909 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Tom Hopkinson, Altham, Moorfield, 1909 — Northern Mine Research Society
4. (primary) Altham Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 17 October 2026 · Last researched: 17 October 2026