Shakespeare Colliery inrush, 1897

Water burst through the floor of No. 2 (Simpson) Pit at Shakespeare Colliery, Dover, while it was being sunk on 6 March 1897. Six of the fourteen men in the shaft were hauled out in the hoppit; the rest drowned.

Cause

Water under pressure burst through the floor of the shaft during sinking, after a shot had been fired in the hard gault.

What happened

No. 2 (Simpson) Pit was begun in the autumn of 1896, midway between the flooded Brady Pit and the original borehole, with the intention of sinking it to the Brady's depth and installing pumps there to keep both shafts dry. It went down quickly to about 300 feet, where the gault was too hard to dig, and a lightly charged shot was fired. On 6 March 1897, after an inspection to make sure no water had broken in, the sinkers went down to load the loosened rock into the hoppit. The first load was damp and the second dry. While they were filling the third, water burst violently through the floor of the shaft and rose fast. The hoppit, which was at the surface, was sent straight back down; it filled with sand and water, and the men grabbed at the rope. Some fell off, but three held on and were hauled up, and a second trip brought up three more. The master sinker and one of the exhausted survivors went down in a third hoppit, but the water had by then risen forty feet up the shaft and no one else was found. It rose eighty feet within half an hour and a hundred feet in three days. The flooding added to the company's money troubles. No. 2 was eventually lined with cast-iron tubbing as it was sunk, which dealt with the water.

Rescue & recovery

Six men were hauled up in two trips of the hoppit; a third descent, by the master sinker and a survivor, found the water forty feet up the shaft. It was a month before the shaft could be pumped out and the bodies recovered.

Investigation & inquiry

A management report of 25 March concluded that a feeder of hot water was coming up the shaft too quickly to be controlled. The men's candles had fired gas on the surface of the water, showing that firedamp was present.

What's uncertain

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

• Eight sinkers were drowned. (disputed) ^1,2
• Seven men lost their lives: John Davies Barrs, Richard Brookwell, Henry Kitchen, Robert Reed, George Terry, George Wigman and Samuel Wilmot. (disputed) ^4,3
• The inrush came at about 300 feet, in No. 2 (Simpson) Pit, after a shot had been fired in the gault. (disputed) ²
• The inrush came at a depth of 366 feet. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• On 6 March 1897 water burst into a shaft being sunk at Shakespeare Colliery, Dover. ^1,2,3
• Eight sinkers were drowned. (disputed) ^1,2
• Seven men lost their lives: John Davies Barrs, Richard Brookwell, Henry Kitchen, Robert Reed, George Terry, George Wigman and Samuel Wilmot. (disputed) ^4,3
• Water burst through the bottom of the shaft while it was being sunk; with the hoppit at the surface, only six of the fourteen men in the shaft escaped. ^2,3
• The inrush came at about 300 feet, in No. 2 (Simpson) Pit, after a shot had been fired in the gault. (disputed) ²
• The inrush came at a depth of 366 feet. (disputed) ¹
• It took a month to pump out the shaft and recover the bodies; a management report of 25 March found a feeder of hot water rising too fast to control, with firedamp present. ²
• The company is given as the Kent Collieries Corporation Limited, which took over the Kent Coal Syndicate's operations on 6 March 1897. ^2,3

Related terminology

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

• Borehole (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…of 1896, midway between the flooded Brady Pit and the original borehole, with the intention of sinking it to the Brady's depth and…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “…candles had fired gas on the surface of the water, showing that firedamp was present.”
• Kibble (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “…1897. Six of the fourteen men in the shaft were hauled out in the hoppit; the rest drowned.”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 8 times in this record, first in the summary: “…it was being sunk on 6 March 1897. Six of the fourteen men in the shaft were hauled out in the hoppit; the rest drowned.”
• Shaft Sinking (contextual relationship)
  Named 6 times in this record, first in the cause: “Water under pressure burst through the floor of the shaft during sinking, after a shot had been fired in the hard gault.”

Sources

1. (secondary) Kent Coalfield — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Shakespeare Colliery — Subterranea Britannica
3. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Dover Colliery inrush, 6 March 1897 — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) Durham Mining Museum: Dover Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 16 October 2026 · Last researched: 16 October 2026