Pendleton Colliery explosion, 1870

At half past ten one morning in February 1870 the fireman Jonathan Chapman fired a shot in the No. 2 level of the Albert mine at Pendleton Colliery. It blew out without bringing down the coal, and flame swept the level, burning everyone working near it. Nine men and boys died, some at home and some in the Salford Royal Dispensary, four of them boys of fourteen to sixteen. The jury blamed the powder flame alone; the Inspector thought firedamp had fed it.

Cause

A blown-out shot, whose flame was carried along the level; the Durham Mining Museum records coal dust as ignited, and the Inspector believed firedamp in the air intensified it.

Contributing factors

The place was on the inner side of sheeting that diverted the air into upbrow workings. The dead were all in or near the level, none more than twenty-eight yards from the shot; the men in the upbrow workings escaped. The night fireman, Charles Briggs, had found no gas at 6 a.m.

What happened

Chapman, a skilled man of twelve years at the colliery, had holed the coal about two feet nine inches deep. When the shot went off Edward Roberts, working near Radford's place with his fourteen-year-old stepson William Walford, felt a wind and heard the boy cry 'Father'; he ran down the brow calling but found only prone bodies, groans and someone praying in the dark, and the afterdamp drove him back to the shaft. Daniel Evans, hearing a lad call that he was on fire, found him by the glow of his smouldering clothes and pulled him out.

Rescue & recovery

The burned were brought out and taken home or to the Salford Royal Dispensary, where several died.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest, before Mr F. Preece, heard Inspector Joseph Dickinson ask the jury to consider whether firedamp was present, how powder came to be put on the stemming, and how far men should retire when a shot was fired. The jury returned accidental death from a powder flame after the shot blew out, found no inflammable gas, and recommended fifty yards. Dickinson disagreed on the gas.

Memorials & commemoration

A memorial bench to Pendleton's miners, unveiled in 2024 by the Irwell Valley Mining Project, was reported with the 1870 explosion among the pit's disasters.

Recorded claims

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

• An explosion in the Albert mine at Andrew Knowles and Sons' Pendleton Colliery in February 1870 killed nine men and boys. ^1,2,3
• The NMRS account dates the explosion to 6 February 1870. (disputed) ²
• The Durham Mining Museum dates the explosion to 4 February 1870, with Joseph Ashton dying of his injuries on 11 February. (disputed) ³
• A shot fired by the fireman Jonathan Chapman in the No. 2 level blew out without bringing down the coal; the Durham Mining Museum records the explosion as coal dust ignited by the blown-out shot. ^2,3
• The jury found the men died accidentally from a powder flame after the shot blew out, with no inflammable gas, and recommended men be at least 50 yards away when a shot was fired; Inspector Joseph Dickinson believed the air on that part of the level was charged with firedamp, which intensified the flame. ²

Related terminology

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

• Afterdamp (hazard involved)
  Afterdamp drove back a would-be rescuer.
• Firedamp (hazard involved)
  The Inspector believed firedamp intensified the flame.
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  The shot was fired by the fireman.
• Shot-firing (direct cause)
  A shot blew out.
• Stemming (contributing factor)
  The jury considered how powder came to be on the stemming.

Sources

1. (secondary) Pendleton Colliery memorial bench revealed in tribute to coal miners — Salford Now
2. (secondary) Pendleton Colliery Explosion - Pendleton - 1870 — Northern Mine Research Society (information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre)
3. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum - Pendleton Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 2 September 2026 · Last researched: 13 September 2026