Nash and Sprinkle Colliery shaft accident

Three men were killed at Nash and Sprinkle Colliery, Haverfordwest, when a counterbalanced bucket, descended out of sequence and without its counterweight, fell to the bottom of the shaft.

Cause

The shaft was worked by two buckets acting as counterweights to each other on the same chain. The descent of one began before the customary signal was given and while the other, ascending bucket was empty; without its counterbalancing weight, the descending bucket fell to the bottom of the pit with frightful rapidity.

Contributing factors

The shaft is separately recorded as having no carriage and no proper guides, and was described by the inspecting authority as very badly fitted -- a standing condition that made the bucket-and-counterweight system used here considerably more dangerous than it needed to be.

What happened

Nash and Sprinkle Colliery worked a small group of coal pits near Hook, Haverfordwest, on the Cleddau estuary in Pembrokeshire, with a tramway running to a quay at Sprinkle. On 25 March 1861, four men entered a bucket to descend the shaft and relieve comrades who were to ascend at the same time in another bucket, attached as a counterpoise to the other end of the same chain. By a misapprehension, the descent began before the customary signal was given, while the ascending bucket was still empty. Without any counteracting weight, the descending bucket fell to the bottom of the pit "with frightful rapidity". All four men were thrown out: one was killed on the spot, two more died a short time afterwards of their injuries, and the fourth survived with severe contusions.

Related terminology

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

• Cage (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “…system more dangerous than a properly guided cage would have been.”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “Three men were killed at Nash and Sprinkle Colliery, Haverfordwest, when a counterbalanced bucket, descended out of…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…of sequence and without its counterweight, fell to the bottom of the shaft.”
• Waggonway (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Hook, Haverfordwest, on the Cleddau estuary in Pembrokeshire, with a tramway running to a quay at Sprinkle. On 25 March 1861, four men entered a…”

Sources

1. (primary) Quay, Nash and Sprinkle Colliery — Coflein, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales
2. (secondary) Welsh coal mine fatalities, 1861 — Welsh Coal Mines

Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 15 September 2026