Snydale Colliery goaf ignition

On 12 December 1870 two colliers were killed by an explosion of gas at Snydale Colliery, near Pontefract in the West Riding.

Cause

An explosion of gas in the workings.

Contributing factors

The same year, in a separate incident dated 1 June 1870 by DMM, the colliery blacksmith Ambrose Webster, 35, died of 'an explosion of gas in a borehole in stone drift'. Featherstone's Collieries gives a different-sounding cause for the same death -- that Webster took an ordinary flame lamp underground instead of a safety lamp and so ignited the firedamp himself -- which is not necessarily inconsistent with DMM's borehole location, but neither source resolves the other into a single clear account, so both are kept here rather than one being silently dropped. This is recorded as contributing context to the same colliery's record in the same year, not as part of the Poole/Leuty incident itself.

What happened

W. Lutter, aged 28, and R. Poole, aged 36, both colliers, were killed by an explosion of gas at Snydale, then worked by Rhodes and Dalby. It was the third fatal firedamp or shot-related incident the Durham Mining Museum records at the colliery in seven years, after the sinking explosion of 1864 and the powder-smoke deaths of 1869.

What's uncertain

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

• A second man, William Leuty, 28, also a collier, died alongside Poole in the same incident; both had taken naked candles into the goaf and ignited gas there, dying some days later of their burns. Leuty does not appear on DMM's own (self-described incomplete) fatality list for the colliery, so this detail rests on Featherstone's Collieries alone. (uncertain) ²
• In a separate incident on 1 June 1870, blacksmith Ambrose Webster, 35, died of an explosion of gas in a borehole in stone drift (DMM); Featherstone's Collieries instead describes him taking a flame lamp underground instead of a safety lamp and igniting firedamp -- the two accounts are not reconciled. (disputed) ^1,2

Recorded claims

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

• Robert Poole, 36, a collier, died on 12 December 1870 of an explosion of gas at Snydale Colliery. ^1,2
• A second man, William Leuty, 28, also a collier, died alongside Poole in the same incident; both had taken naked candles into the goaf and ignited gas there, dying some days later of their burns. Leuty does not appear on DMM's own (self-described incomplete) fatality list for the colliery, so this detail rests on Featherstone's Collieries alone. (uncertain) ²
• In a separate incident on 1 June 1870, blacksmith Ambrose Webster, 35, died of an explosion of gas in a borehole in stone drift (DMM); Featherstone's Collieries instead describes him taking a flame lamp underground instead of a safety lamp and igniting firedamp -- the two accounts are not reconciled. (disputed) ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Borehole (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the contributing factors: “…blacksmith Ambrose Webster, 35, died of 'an explosion of gas in a borehole in stone drift'. Featherstone's Collieries gives a…”
• Drift (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “…Webster, 35, died of 'an explosion of gas in a borehole in stone drift'. Featherstone's Collieries gives a different-sounding cause for the…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “…flame lamp underground instead of a safety lamp and so ignited the firedamp himself -- which is not necessarily inconsistent with DMM's borehole…”
• Goaf (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…Leuty, died of burns some days after taking naked candles into the goaf at Snydale Colliery and igniting gas there in 1870; a third man, the…”
• Stone Drift (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “…Ambrose Webster, 35, died of 'an explosion of gas in a borehole in stone drift'. Featherstone's Collieries gives a different-sounding cause for the…”

Sources

1. (primary) Snydale Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Featherstone's Three Collieries: Snydale — Featherstone's Three Collieries (Irvin Saxton)
3. (primary) Snydale Colliery explosion of gas, 12 December 1870 — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 11 September 2026 · Last researched: 22 September 2026