Stonehill Colliery fire

A wall of cannel more than a hundred yards long caught fire 1,200 yards from the shaft at Stonehill Colliery, Farnworth, with about 300 men and boys below. The ventilation carried the smoke inbye onto the men working beyond it. Most of the pit got out; eighteen were suffocated. Two of the dead had turned back — a fireman to warn his workmates, a father to look for his son, who was found beside him.

Cause

An underground fire in the cannel. The origin was not definitely established; the belief at the time was that a lad had set light to the tarred brattice cloth with his lamp, the flames spreading to the wooden props and then to the coal.

Contributing factors

The pit was not considered gassy and naked lights were used in it. Tarred brattice cloth hung underground to direct the air. The seat of the fire was 1,200 yards from the shaft, so the men beyond it were cut off from the only way out, and the ventilating current carried the smoke towards them rather than away. Water had to be brought that whole 1,200 yards by pipe.

What happened

About nine on the morning of Tuesday 23 January 1877, some 300 men and boys were at work when the alarm went round that a cannel mine was on fire, and there was a rush for the pit mouth. A wall of cannel over a hundred yards long was burning about 1,200 yards in, and dense smoke was being carried further into the workings where men were still at work. Of the thirty or so beyond the fire, those nearest escaped through the flames before the sulphurous smoke overpowered them; some fifteen working three or four hundred yards further on did not. A man named Pye passed over seven or eight bodies lying prostrate and tried to rouse one of them without success. A man named Gerrard got through the fire, missed his son, and turned back. Daniel Walker, the fireman, died trying to save his workmates. James Shorrocks turned back for his son Richard; the two were afterwards found lying on the ground clasped in each other’s arms. They had been due to start work the next morning at the Bridgewater Trustees’ Ashton Field Colliery.

Rescue & recovery

An exploring party of about twenty, led by the mine’s manager Mr Mills and Mr Bowker, manager to the Bridgewater Trustees, went down and began laying pipe from the pit eye to the fire. The 1,200 yards of pipe were not complete until seven that evening. Water was plentiful and hose was sent by the Farnworth Local Board brigade and by Messrs Barnes and Holden, but three hours of water had little effect and a second branch of hose was coupled on; the roof was feared to have fallen in, which would delay recovering the bodies. Only two had been found by half past nine that night. Medical men waited on the pit bank, where thousands stood through the day. The fire was extinguished two days later. Robert Sixsmith was injured falling ten yards down a hole while making his escape.

Recorded claims

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

• About 9 a.m. on 23 January 1877, with some 300 men and boys at work, a wall of cannel over a hundred yards long was found burning about 1,200 yards from the shaft, with dense smoke being carried further into the workings. ¹
• Some thirty men were working beyond the seat of the fire; those nearest escaped through the flames, and those three or four hundred yards further in did not. ¹
• Eighteen men and boys died of asphyxiation; eight of them were married and left fifteen children unprovided for. ²
• Pipe was laid the full 1,200 yards from the pit eye to the fire by an exploring party of about twenty under the manager Mr Mills and Mr Bowker of the Bridgewater Trustees, and was not complete until seven in the evening; the fire was extinguished two days later. ¹
• The mine was free from gas and naked lights were used in it; the fire was not believed to have been caused by an explosion but by a lad igniting the tarred brattice cloth with his lamp. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Brattice (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “…the belief at the time was that a lad had set light to the tarred brattice cloth with his lamp, the flames spreading to the wooden props and…”
• Cannel Coal (contributing factor)
  The fire was in the cannel seam itself: cannel's high content of volatile oils and gas made a hundred yards of the working face burn in the seam and fill the ventilation with smoke.
• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “…his lamp, the flames spreading to the wooden props and then to the coal.”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…yards long caught fire 1,200 yards from the shaft at Stonehill Colliery, Farnworth, with about 300 men and boys below. The ventilation…”
• Fireman (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…out; eighteen were suffocated. Two of the dead had turned back — a fireman to warn his workmates, a father to look for his son, who was found…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…more than a hundred yards long caught fire 1,200 yards from the shaft at Stonehill Colliery, Farnworth, with about 300 men and boys below.…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (primary) Great colliery disaster near Bolton — Liverpool Journal, 27 January 1877 — Old Mersey Times
2. (secondary) Bolton Encyclopedia: 1870–1879 — Bolton Encyclopedia

Record created: 6 September 2026 · Last researched: 6 September 2026