Sherburn House Colliery boiler explosion, 1869

A boiler burst at the Earl of Durham's Sherburn House Colliery on the afternoon of 16 June 1869, bringing the engine house down on three men; a girl bringing her father's tea had her leg broken.

Cause

The bursting of a steam boiler beside the engine house; the reason is not recorded.

What happened

On the afternoon of Wednesday 16 June 1869 the enginemen at Sherburn House Colliery were sitting in the engine house when one of the boilers exploded, reducing the building to a heap of ruins and burying them. The firemen Thomas Clayton and John Surtees and the brakesman Ralph Marley were dead when they were reached.

One half of the boiler came down about 200 yards to the north and the other about 100 yards to the south; had they flown east or west they would have fallen on the workmen's houses and shops. A little girl who had just reached the engine-house steps with her father's tea was knocked down and her leg was broken.

Recorded claims

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

• A steam boiler exploded at Sherburn House Colliery on the afternoon of 16 June 1869, killing three men. ^1,2,3
• The dead were Thomas Clayton, 21, and John Surtees, 19, firemen, and Ralph Marley, 43, brakesman. ¹
• The men were sitting in the engine house when the boiler burst and brought the building down on them. ³
• Halves of the boiler were thrown about 200 yards north and 100 yards south of the colliery. ³
• The colliery belonged to the Earl of Durham. ²

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “A boiler burst at the Earl of Durham's Sherburn House Colliery on the afternoon of 16 June 1869, bringing the engine house down on…”
• Engine House (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…House Colliery on the afternoon of 16 June 1869, bringing the engine house down on three men; a girl bringing her father's tea had her leg…”

Sources

1. (primary) Sherburn House Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) Accidents and offences: boiler explosion at Sherburn House Colliery (The Cambrian News, 26 June 1869) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)
3. (primary) A fatal boiler explosion at Sherburn House Pit (The Brecon County Times, 26 June 1869) — Welsh Newspapers (National Library of Wales)

Record created: 6 October 2026 · Last researched: 8 October 2026