Pochin Colliery Explosion, 1884

An explosion at Pochin Colliery in the Sirhowy valley at about nine o'clock on the evening of Saturday 8 November 1884 killed fourteen men who were repairing a pumping station underground, and all forty-three ponies stabled below. The ventilation fan was destroyed, so rescuers could not go down until the Sunday afternoon. A fifteenth man died at the surface, falling down the shaft in the crush at the pithead. The Inspector of Mines reported to the Home Secretary that the explosion was due to shot-firing; the inquest found there was no evidence to show how it had occurred.

Cause

The Inspector of Mines reported to the Home Secretary within five days that in his opinion the explosion was due to shot-firing. The inquest returned a verdict of accidentally killed by an explosion, but recorded that there was no evidence to show how it had occurred.

Contributing factors

The explosion destroyed the colliery's ventilation fan, so that no rescue party could go underground until ventilation was restored the following afternoon. The Home Secretary was at the same time receiving representations against the measures he proposed for greater precaution in shot-firing.

What happened

The explosion came at about ten minutes past nine on the evening of Saturday 8 November 1884, some 300 yards from the pit bottom, while maintenance work was in progress at a pumping station set in an adit about halfway down the shaft. Fourteen men were at work there. All of them died, as did the forty-three ponies stabled underground. The blast was felt across the district and a crowd gathered quickly at the pithead; in the press of people one onlooker, Phillip Pugh, aged 27, rushed forward and fell down the shaft to his death. The dead came from Blackwood, Troedrhiwgwair, Tredegar, Hollybush and Pittabach, and ranged in age from twenty to fifty-eight.

Rescue & recovery

The explosion destroyed the ventilation fan, and until it was made good no one could go down. Ventilation was not restored until the Sunday afternoon, when rescuers were finally sent into the pit. They brought out the pumpsman alive and uninjured but in deep shock; everyone else underground was dead.

Investigation & inquiry

Five days after the explosion, on 13 November 1884, Thomas Burt asked the Home Secretary in the Commons whether he had appointed or would appoint a competent person to represent the Home Office at the coroner's inquiry. Sir William Harcourt answered that he would certainly have a careful inquiry made, and added that he had that day received a report from the Inspector of Mines giving the opinion that the explosion was due to shot-firing — a point he made in the context of representations he had received against the precautions he was proposing for shot-firing generally.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The inquest returned a verdict of accidental death on Phillip Pugh, who had fallen down the shaft, and of accidentally killed by an explosion on the fourteen men underground, recording that there was no evidence to show how the explosion had occurred.

Changes to practice & legislation

The explosion arrived while the Home Office was pressing for tighter precautions around shot-firing against objections from the industry, and the Inspector's early attribution of the blast to shot-firing was used in the Commons to answer those objections. No change specific to this colliery has been traced in the sources read.

Memorials & commemoration

No memorial specific to the explosion has been identified in the sources read.

Recorded claims

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

• The explosion occurred at about 9 p.m. on Saturday 8 November 1884, some 300 yards from the pit bottom, where men were repairing a pumping station in an adit part-way down the shaft. ^1,2
• Fourteen men were killed underground, together with all forty-three ponies stabled below; the pumpsman was brought out alive. ^1,2
• A fifteenth death, Phillip Pugh aged 27, occurred at the surface when he fell down the shaft in the crush at the pithead; the inquest returned a separate verdict of accidental death on him. ^1,2
• The Inspector of Mines reported to the Home Secretary on 13 November 1884 that in his opinion the explosion was due to shot-firing. ³
• The inquest returned a verdict of accidentally killed by an explosion and recorded that there was no evidence to show how it had occurred. ²
• The ventilation fan was destroyed by the explosion, and rescuers could not be sent into the pit until ventilation was restored on the Sunday afternoon. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Sources

1. (secondary) Pochin Colliery, Tredegar — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (secondary) Death Roll: Pochin Colliery explosion, 8 November 1884 — Welsh Coal Mines
3. (primary) Mines Regulation Act — Explosion at Pochin Colliery, HC Deb 13 November 1884 vol 293 c1583 — Hansard, UK Parliament
4. (primary) Pochin Colliery, Tredegar (NPRN 33580) — Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales

Record created: 4 September 2026 · Last researched: 4 September 2026