Tawd Vale Colliery shaft accident, 1878

On 27 January 1878 two datallers at Tawd Vale Colliery, Skelmersdale, stepped into the hoppet at a mouthing in the shaft while the engineman was away from his engine. Their weight set the engine running and lowered them into the sump, which was full of water, and both drowned.

Cause

The men's weight set the unattended winding engine running and lowered the hoppet into the flooded sump.

Contributing factors

Getting into the hoppet without the engineman's signal while he was away from the engine.

What happened

William Cox and Luke Martindale, datallers, the day-wage men who did repairs and maintenance, were at a mouthing, a landing part-way down the shaft, and got into the hoppet, the bucket used in the shaft, without waiting for the engineman. He was away from his engine, and the weight of the two men set it going.

The hoppet was lowered into the sump, the well at the foot of the shaft, which was full of water, and both men drowned. The inspector's return noted that they should have waited for the engineman's signal.

Recorded claims

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

• On 27 January 1878 two datallers at the Tawd Vale Colliery Company's pit, William Cox and Luke Martindale, were drowned in the sump. ^1,2,3
• They got into the hoppet at the mouthing while the engineman was away from his engine, and their weight set the engine going and lowered them into the sump, full of water. ^2,3
• They should have waited for the engineman's signal. ^2,3

Related terminology

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

• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “On 27 January 1878 two datallers at Tawd Vale Colliery, Skelmersdale, stepped into the hoppet at a mouthing in the shaft…”
• Dataller (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “On 27 January 1878 two datallers at Tawd Vale Colliery, Skelmersdale, stepped into the hoppet at a…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Colliery, Skelmersdale, stepped into the hoppet at a mouthing in the shaft while the engineman was away from his engine. Their weight set the…”
• Sump (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…Their weight set the engine running and lowered them into the sump, which was full of water, and both drowned.”
• Winding Engine (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “The men's weight set the unattended winding engine running and lowered the hoppet into the flooded sump.”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (primary) Tawd Vale Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) 1870s M: Ian Winstanley's alphabetical list of mining victims — Healey Hero (Ian Winstanley's list of mining victims)
3. (primary) Colliery Accident: Tawd Vale, 27 January 1878 — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 2 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026