MineArchiveMorfa Colliery explosion, 1870
| Date | 14 February 1870 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Morfa Colliery |
| Region | Neath Port Talbot |
| Type | Explosion |
| Fatalities | 29 (NMRS and Welsh Coal Mines give 29; the Durham Mining Museum, as noted when the stub was created, gives 30. The NMRS names 22 married and 3 single men, among them the brothers Thomas and John Vanstone.) |
| Context | During active mining (Early morning at Vivian and Sons' Morfa Colliery, Taibach, as the shift descended and the working shaft was being sunk deeper.) |
Between six and seven on the morning of 14 February 1870, when 50 or 60 men had gone down Morfa Colliery at Taibach, a terrific explosion near the bottom of the working shaft wrecked the shaft and headgear and killed twenty-nine men and boys. Blasting powder for deepening the shaft was stored there, and the manager blamed it; the jury found firedamp; the Inspector traced the gas to a goaf that had been sealed off months before.
Cause
Firedamp or gunpowder near the bottom of the working shaft; Inspector Wales believed gas from a sealed-off 40-acre goaf reached a naked light or the gas lighting at the shaft bottom.
Contributing factors
Large quantities of gunpowder for the shaft sinking were stored near the pit bottom. The drifts linking the shaft bottom to an old 40-acre goaf had been filled in the previous August to bar the gas, which the Inspector called 'highly dangerous'. The shaft bottom was lit by gas piped down from the surface, which was not always turned off, and naked lights were used on the main road near the shaft.
What happened
Morfa worked steep, gassy seams from an upcast 200 yards deep and a downcast of 150 through which all men and coal were raised, with furnace ventilation and locked lamps everywhere but the main road near the shaft. The firemen had reported all safe and the men were going down when the explosion came, confined almost entirely to the neighbourhood of the shaft, where the destruction of life and property was very great. Henry Williams, working in the Nine Feet some 300 yards in, saw a mass of flame come from the drift leading to the Cribbwr, was knocked unconscious and made his way out through the afterdamp.
Rescue & recovery
The damaged shaft and headgear stopped the cages, and another way down had to be found to bring out the injured and the dead. Inspector Wales arrived within hours to advise. Three bodies were still missing at the inquest and were found in July as the shaft was deepened towards 400 yards.
Investigation & inquiry
A protracted inquest turned on whether gas or gunpowder had exploded; the jury, fifteen to two, found an explosion of firedamp in the west stables and no one to blame. Inspector Wales reported that the evidence was contradictory but that gas had passed from the 40-acre goaf to a naked light near the shaft bottom.
Changes to practice & legislation
Wales used his 1870 report to warn against barring gas in old workings and urged that goaves always be connected to the return airways at a safe distance from the ventilating furnace.
Memorials & commemoration
The colliery memorial within the Port Talbot steelworks commemorates the dead of its six fatal accidents.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- The explosion on 14 February 1870, while the working shaft was being deepened, killed twenty-nine men and boys; three bodies were not found until July, in the water and debris at the shaft bottom. 1,2
- The manager, Mr Gray, believed the store of blasting powder near the shaft bottom had exploded. (disputed) 1,2
- The inquest jury, fifteen to two, found an explosion of firedamp in the west stables, with no one to blame. (disputed) 2
- Inspector Wales concluded that gas dammed in a 40-acre goaf since the previous August forced its way through the stowing and down a staple to a naked light or the gas light at the shaft bottom. (disputed) 2
- About a week later an explosion of gas near the shaft bottom, while repairs were in progress, burned several men slightly. 2
Related terminology
Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.
- Afterdamp (hazard involved)
Survivors made their way out through afterdamp. - Firedamp (direct cause)
Gas from a sealed goaf, on the Inspector's view. - Goaf (contextual relationship)
Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “…it; the jury found firedamp; the Inspector traced the gas to a goaf that had been sealed off months before.” - Naked Light (contributing factor)
Naked lights and gas lighting at the shaft bottom. - Return Airway (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s changes to practice: “…gas in old workings and urged that goaves always be connected to the return airways at a safe distance from the ventilating furnace.”
Sources
- (secondary) Morfa Colliery Port Talbot — Welsh Coal Mines
- (secondary) Morfa Colliery Explosion - Port Talbot - 1870 — Northern Mine Research Society (information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre)
Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 13 September 2026