Polquhairn Colliery explosion, 1911

A naked light fired gas at a heading face in the Main coal at Polquhairn Colliery, Ayrshire, on 13 December 1911; a fourteen-year-old drawer and a roadsman died of their injuries.

Cause

A naked light ignited firedamp that had probably gathered in a roof cavity near the heading face after an outrush from a fault.

Contributing factors

Naked lights in workings next to burnt coal and a fault; a soft pavement that let the props sink and the roof part into cavities where gas could lie.

What happened

Polquhairn's Main coal had been thought worked out until a new area was found beyond a whin dyke 750 yards from the shaft. It was worked stoop and room with naked lights, and although gas had sometimes been met on the near side of the dyke, none had been found beyond it.

At about 1 p.m. on 13 December 1911 a miner was clearing up at the face of a new lift beside a fault, while two roadsmen laid rails and timber under a fireman. One roadsman went up to the heading face for timber and his naked light fired gas. He threw himself down as the flame went over him. The fireman was knocked against the side and cut. Robert Heron, the other roadsman, was in the line of the blast and burned; he ran down the heading, and seven yards on a fall from the roof partly buried him. With every light out and the roof breaking, the fireman got the men over a fall some 16 yards long, and further out found James Withers, a drawer of 14, injured about the head and face where he had been waiting to run a full hutch down the brae.

Withers died two days later and Heron, 27, five days after the explosion.

Rescue & recovery

The fireman relit a lamp and led the men out over a fall about 16 yards long, finding the injured drawer further out-bye.

Investigation & inquiry

The inspector of mines described the accident in his report for 1911. The firemen had found no gas before or two hours after it, nor did a junior inspector; he put the gas down to a rapid outrush from the fault.

Changes to practice & legislation

Safety lamps were introduced in the district and the ventilation increased.

Recorded claims

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

• At 1 p.m. on 13 December 1911 a roadsman's naked light ignited gas at a heading face in the Main coal at Polquhairn Colliery, Drongan; a drawer and a roadsman died of their injuries and two other men were hurt. ^1,2
• James Withers, a drawer of 14, died on the morning of 15 December, and Robert Heron, a roadsman of 27, burned and then caught by a fall of roof, died on 18 December. ^1,2
• The workings lay in a new area found beyond a whin dyke 750 yards from the shaft after the Main coal had been thought exhausted, and were worked stoop and room with naked lights. ¹
• The inspector put the gas down to a rapid outrush from the leaders of a nearby fault, probably into a cavity in the roof near the heading face. ¹
• He considered that with burnt coal and a fault so near the management might have expected gas and should have had the places worked with safety lamps; safety lamps were introduced and the ventilation increased afterwards. ¹
• The colliery belonged to the Polquhairn Coal Co. Ltd. ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the narrative: “…beside a fault, while two roadsmen laid rails and timber under a fireman. One roadsman went up to the heading face for timber and his naked…”
• Naked Light (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “A naked light fired gas at a heading face in the Main coal at Polquhairn Colliery,…”
• Putter (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Colliery, Ayrshire, on 13 December 1911; a fourteen-year-old drawer and a roadsman died of their injuries.”
• Roadman (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Ayrshire, on 13 December 1911; a fourteen-year-old drawer and a roadsman died of their injuries.”
• Room and Pillar (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…was found beyond a whin dyke 750 yards from the shaft. It was worked stoop and room with naked lights, and although gas had sometimes been met on the…”

Sources

1. (primary) Fatal Accidents in Scottish Mines & Collieries 1911 — Scottish Mining Website
2. (secondary) Accident record: James Withers, Polquhairn, 1911 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 8 October 2026