Roachburn Colliery inrush, 1908

About noon on 28 January 1908 the face of a working driven up to the outcrop under Denton Fell gave way, and roughly 90,000 cubic yards of saturated peat, sand, clay and water poured into Roachburn Colliery near Hallbankgate. About 120 men were underground; all but three got out. Two of the three were officials who had gone back for the third. No body was recovered, so no inquest could be held, and the Home Office ordered a formal investigation instead.

Cause

Coal had been worked up to the outcrop at a point where the surface deposits — peat, sand and clay lying beneath and around two small tarns — were so saturated that they gave way into the mine. The inspector concluded that the officials had taken the necessary precautions for working under the open water of the tarns but had not sufficiently allowed for what standing water does to the moss around them, making it fluid and, once moving, more dangerous than water itself.

Contributing factors

The seam lay at about 35 degrees where the workings were, so the inflow ran freely downhill and travelled at least 2,240 yards through the mine. The clay that floored the basin of moss became sandier towards the whin dyke and so less able to bear the weight above it. Nothing in the Coal Mines Acts or the special rules dealt specifically with working up to an outcrop under such deposits.

What happened

On 27 January a hewer, Christopher Pattinson, worked the coal in the last bord right up to the clay, baring it for five feet across the face. The master shifter and a deputy examined the place late that night and found the clay dry and safe. On the next shift Henry Pattinson, who had taken over from his brother, was alarmed between midnight and two in the morning by water and clay coming down the bord, ran out once, and set props to keep the clay off the coal he was filling. The deputy who examined the place between five and six found enough clay and sand washed down to fill two or three tubs, timbered the face and sent for the undermanager, who came about seven and found a fissure some three inches wide in the roof a foot from the face with soft clay oozing through it. More timber was put in and the place was thought safe. At about eleven the deputy sent word that more clay was coming through, and two deputies stayed on overtime to close the bord off at the level. They were about to start when the quantity of clay, sand and water coming down drove them out; from the top of the self-acting incline they heard a noise like thunder. Nearly everyone on the Byron side escaped up No. 7 pit; seven men came through the whin dyke to the Roachburn side and out by the main level, main dip and shaft. Seventeen men were working inbye in the Jubilee Winnings and were warned by a lad and a putter; all came out but James William Wharton, a hewer whose kneecap was apt to slip and leave him helpless. Robert Pattinson, the deputy overman, waited at the foot of the endless-rope incline until everyone else was out and then went inbye to fetch him; a few minutes later Matthew Hilliard, the back overman, followed on the same errand. A stoneman, Robert Jackson, saw them go and was the last man to see either alive; he went outbye as the moss came down the incline.

Rescue & recovery

Attempts to reach the three men began at once and were pressed until the rise of the inflowing material stopped any further effort. No body was ever recovered. All the ponies were brought out except one on the Roachburn level. The inflow left a subsidence on the moor above covering some nine acres and 49 feet deep.

Investigation & inquiry

Because no body was recovered there could be no inquest. On 13 February 1908 Thomas Burt, member for Morpeth, asked the Home Secretary whether he would order a formal investigation; Herbert Gladstone replied that, given the exceptional nature of the accident and the likelihood that no inquest would ever be held, he was taking the necessary steps under section 45 of the Coal Mines Regulation Act 1887. J. B. Atkinson, one of HM Chief Inspectors of Mines, held the inquiry in the Village Hall at Hallbankgate on 13 March 1908 with R. Sheriton Holmes as legal adviser. Thirteen witnesses were examined, among them the manager, undermanager, master shifter, four deputies and several workmen, with expert evidence from Austin Kirkup of the Lambton collieries and John Rogers of Widdrington. Atkinson found the colliery well managed and without a previous fatal accident in the fifteen years it had been established, and wrote that the two officials could easily have escaped but lost their lives in their devotion to duty.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

Atkinson recorded that no provision in the Coal Mines Acts or the special rules made under them dealt with the conditions that caused the accident. He rejected the suggestion made at the inquiry that General Rule 13, on boring when approaching a dangerous accumulation of water, could be stretched to cover it, and did not propose a new rule, holding that not every contingency of mining can usefully be regulated.

Changes to practice & legislation

The lesson drawn was one of practice rather than law: where saturated peat lies above, enough solid coal must be left next the outcrop, because water standing in tarns makes the moss around them fluid and a flow of moss is more dangerous than a flow of water.

Memorials & commemoration

A memorial to the disaster stands at the hamlet of Coalfell, and a booklet on it, January 28th 1908 by Alastair F. Robertson, was published by Hundy Publications of Alston.

Recorded claims

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

• The manager estimated the inflow at about 90,000 cubic yards; it left a cavity on the surface covering nine acres and 49 feet deep. ¹
• Three men died — Matthew Hilliard, Robert Pattinson and James William Wharton — and about 120 others escaped by two routes without injury. ^1,2
• Two thirds of the workforce were laid off after the disaster and the mine closed in 1912. ^3,4

Related terminology

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

• Deputy (contextual relationship)
  Named 6 times in this record, first in the narrative: “…baring it for five feet across the face. The master shifter and a deputy examined the place late that night and found the clay dry and safe.…”
• Endless Rope Haulage (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Robert Pattinson, the deputy overman, waited at the foot of the endless-rope incline until everyone else was out and then went inbye to fetch…”
• Hewer (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “On 27 January a hewer, Christopher Pattinson, worked the coal in the last bord right up to…”
• Overman (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…was apt to slip and leave him helpless. Robert Pattinson, the deputy overman, waited at the foot of the endless-rope incline until everyone else…”
• Stoneman (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Matthew Hilliard, the back overman, followed on the same errand. A stoneman, Robert Jackson, saw them go and was the last man to see either…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (primary) Report on the Causes and Circumstances attending the Accident which occurred at Roachburn Colliery, Cumberland, on the 28th January, 1908, by J. B. Atkinson, HM Chief Inspector of Mines — Durham Mining Museum (transcript of the Home Office report)
2. (primary) Roachburn Colliery Accident (HC Deb 13 February 1908 vol 184 c205) — Hansard
3. (primary) Roachburn Colliery, Farlam (List entry 1017643) — Historic England
4. (observational) Roachburn, 1908 — Healey Hero

Record created: 22 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026