Renishaw Park Colliery explosion, 1871

On the evening of 10 January 1871 a shot fired to blast down roof in an intake at J. and G. Wells's Renishaw Park Colliery near Eckington ignited firedamp. The explosion itself was small, but the ventilation carried its afterdamp two thousand yards into the No. 2 Pit; twenty-six or twenty-seven men and boys died and twelve were injured.

Cause

A shot fired while blasting down roof in the No. 1 Pit intake ignited firedamp lodged behind roof timbers.

Contributing factors

Ventilation too small and badly distributed: the air was not split, so the No. 2 Pit received air that had already passed the explosion; no record book of inspections; lax discipline, a manager who seldom went underground, and a deputy who kept a public house.

What happened

The Nos. 1 and 2 Silkstone pits, in Eckington parish, worked the Blackshale coal; the inspector had criticised their ventilation and discipline after an earlier explosion in 1865. The pits used locked Clanny and Davy lamps, and shots were fired by heating a wire red hot through the lamp gauze. On the evening of 10 January 1871 men were blasting down the roof of the No. 1 intake to give the horses headroom, while others repaired roads and got coal in both pits; about 77 worked at night. At about 10.40 that night a shot fired and the gas went with it. Thomas Scott, ripping near the pit bottom, felt only a drumming in the ears, then a rush of smoke 'as hot as fire'. The damage ran 108 yards one way and 670 the other, and the men in the No. 2 Pit, some two thousand yards away, were suffocated by afterdamp carried on the unsplit air. The night deputy Francis Clarke was among the dead.

Rescue & recovery

Scott, Joseph Hardwicke, John Smith and others propped the doors open to turn the air forward, then pushed in with Samuel and Thomas Hardwicke, building temporary stoppings of straw and clothes at each gate road to get through the afterdamp; they found Thomas Goodwin alive and the others dead.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest before C. S. B. Busby heard that there was no record book of the state of the workings, that the owner Joseph Wells had not been underground since November, and from three mining engineers that a shot had fired the gas. The inspector Thomas Evans said the most simple principles of ventilation had not been understood or not carried out, and that with the air properly split the men in the upper pit would have been saved.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The jury found the deaths accidental but recommended stricter supervision by the underviewers; the coroner criticised a deputy's keeping a public house.

Changes to practice & legislation

Unknown.

Memorials & commemoration

Unknown.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• The inspector's report speaks of twenty-six lives but lists twenty-seven names. (disputed) ¹
• The explosion killed twenty-five men and two boys, with twelve others injured. (disputed) ³

Recorded claims

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

• The inspector's report speaks of twenty-six lives but lists twenty-seven names. (disputed) ¹
• The Durham Mining Museum names 26 killed on 10 January 1871 by an explosion of firedamp ignited by a blown-out shot. ²
• The explosion killed twenty-five men and two boys, with twelve others injured. (disputed) ³
• Men were blasting down the roof of the No. 1 intake; the gas was thought to have lodged behind roof timber and been fired by the shot. ^2,1
• Verdict of accidental death with a recommendation of stricter supervision by the underviewers; the inspector blamed unsplit, inadequate ventilation. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Afterdamp (hazard involved)
  Suffocated the men in the No. 2 Pit.
• Deputy (contextual relationship)
  The night deputy was killed; the day deputy kept a public house.
• Gate Road (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s rescue and recovery: “…Hardwicke, building temporary stoppings of straw and clothes at each gate road to get through the afterdamp; they found Thomas Goodwin alive and…”
• Return Airway (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…the evening of 10 January 1871 a shot fired to blast down roof in an intake at J. and G. Wells's Renishaw Park Colliery near Eckington ignited…”
• Ripping (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…that night a shot fired and the gas went with it. Thomas Scott, ripping near the pit bottom, felt only a drumming in the ears, then a rush…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Renishaw Park Colliery Explosion - Chesterfield - 1871 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum - Renishaw Park Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) Renishaw - oldminer.co.uk — oldminer.co.uk

Record created: 21 September 2026 · Last researched: 21 September 2026