Oakthorpe underground fire, 1985

In 1985 a shallow coal seam smouldering beneath Oakthorpe, Leicestershire, broke out as a major underground fire. Ground temperatures in gardens reached 260 degrees Celsius, houses on School Street and the southern edge of the village were damaged by subsidence, and several had to be demolished and their residents re-housed.

Cause

Spontaneous combustion of a sulphurous coal seam about 13 feet thick that outcropped just south of School Street and dipped beneath the village, air reaching it through the shallow overburden.

Contributing factors

Many old workings, most of them unrecorded, had disturbed the overburden and let air in over a wide area. At the time Donisthorpe Colliery was working a shallow seam only 275 yards to the north by retreat with total caving of the waste, the method with the greatest subsidence at the surface. The National Coal Board's boreholes of 1984 had shown raised temperatures and a smoke test an influx of air, but the fire was left to smoulder.

What happened

Settlement south-west of the village in 1984 was an early sign. In September 1983 a property in School Street had suffered substantial damage and the National Coal Board was told; its boreholes of 1984 showed the ground temperatures substantially raised, but the board denied liability and told neither the county, district or parish councils nor the neighbours. On 4 April 1985 the county council noticed the carriageway deforming, and by the end of July smoke was rising from a depression in another School Street property. A probe two feet into one garden read 260 degrees Celsius, and in another place dense smoke came out of a hole dug for a fence post. The fire drew national newspaper and television coverage.

Rescue & recovery

Leicestershire County Council engaged consultants to measure subsidence, temperatures and gas emissions and to drill boreholes to find the fire's extent. The National Coal Board then agreed to pay for re-housing, refurbishment and stopping the fire: four drilling rigs injected grout and cement into the old workings, and four more were set around the school to protect it.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The National Coal Board denied liability throughout. The Coal Authority has since paid £95,000 towards general repairs in the village without accepting responsibility for the subsidence.

This account describes a post-closure incident in abandoned workings. It is not an access guide, and deliberately omits route detail beyond what's needed to understand what happened.

Recorded claims

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

• In 1985 a heating broke out in a shallow seam beneath the southern edge of Oakthorpe village; damage to property made some houses uninhabitable, and they were demolished. ^1,2
• The seam, about 13 feet thick, dipped northwards beneath the village and outcropped in the gardens of houses on its southern fringe, just south of School Street. ^1,2
• A probe two feet into one garden recorded 260 degrees Celsius, and dense smoke came from a hole dug for a fence post. ¹
• A School Street property was badly damaged in September 1983 and the National Coal Board sank boreholes in 1984 that showed raised temperatures, but it denied liability and did not notify the councils or neighbours. ²
• Leicestershire County Council engaged consultants in 1985 to monitor subsidence, temperatures and gas; the NCB later paid for re-housing, repairs and grout and cement injection to stop the fire. ²
• Air could reach the seam through the shallow overburden, disturbed by many unrecorded old workings, and Donisthorpe Colliery was working a shallow seam by retreat with total caving only 275 yards to the north. ¹

Related terminology

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

• National Coal Board (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the narrative: “…a property in School Street had suffered substantial damage and the National Coal Board was told; its boreholes of 1984 showed the ground temperatures…”
• Overburden (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “…and dipped beneath the village, air reaching it through the shallow overburden.”
• Spontaneous Combustion (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “Spontaneous combustion of a sulphurous coal seam about 13 feet thick that outcropped just…”
• Subsidence (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…School Street and the southern edge of the village were damaged by subsidence, and several had to be demolished and their residents re-housed.”

Sources

1. (secondary) NMRS: Oakthorpe Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Wikipedia: Oakthorpe — Wikipedia

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026