Titford Long Meadow Colliery fire, 1874

On the morning of 23 July 1874, as men at Titford Long Meadow Colliery near Oldbury played a hose on a fire in old Thick coal workings, a crash overhead drove a blast of intensely hot air into their gate road. None showed a burn, but five of them died of their injuries within a week.

Cause

A fire of unknown origin, thought to be spontaneous combustion, had burnt through everything between the Heathen coal and the old Thick coal workings above the return gate road. A large fall of roof in the heated old workings displaced the superheated air and drove it into the gate road.

What happened

The Thick or Ten Yard coal at the pit had been worked for many years, and to reach coal to the dip of the shaft one of the gate roads was driven in the Heathen coal a few feet below the Thick and made the return airway. Some months after it was opened a fire was found just above its roof in the old Thick coal workings.

On the morning of 23 July men were trying to put the fire out, pumping water at it through a small hose, when a crash was heard in the old workings above and the air where they stood became suddenly very hot. They ran to the shaft, were drawn up and sent home, believing that firedamp had exploded, and the mine was sealed to stop the fire spreading. None of them looked burnt and their clothes, skin and hair were unsinged, but they soon complained of great thirst and a sense of suffocation. The overman, John Dyas, died that day and four others within the week; they were thought to have inhaled air hot enough to inflame their lungs.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest was adjourned several times in the hope that the mine could be reopened and the cause found. The inspector, Mr Baker, gave his belief that the crash was an extensive fall of roof in the old workings, whose confined air had been intensely heated by the fire, driving that air through the opening in the roof into the gate road. After months with no prospect of an inspection, the jury, several of them practical miners, returned a verdict of accidental death.

What's uncertain

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

• The colliery was owned by Joseph Hacket, who was some yards away and escaped unhurt. (disputed) ¹
• The colliery was worked by Fletcher and Co. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• On 23 July 1874 a rush of intensely hot air from burning old workings struck men fighting a fire at Titford Long Meadow Colliery, Oldbury; the overman died that day and four more men by 30 July. ^1,2
• The inspector, Mr Baker, held that a large fall of roof in the old Thick coal workings, where the confined air had been heated by the fire, drove that air through an opening into the gate road where the men were working. ¹
• The colliery was owned by Joseph Hacket, who was some yards away and escaped unhurt. (disputed) ¹
• The colliery was worked by Fletcher and Co. (disputed) ²
• After the inquest had been adjourned for months in the hope that the mine could be reopened and examined, the jury returned a verdict of accidental death. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Gate Road (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “…a crash overhead drove a blast of intensely hot air into their gate road. None showed a burn, but five of them died of their injuries within…”
• Old Workings (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the cause: “…above the return gate road. A large fall of roof in the heated old workings displaced the superheated air and drove it into the gate road.”
• Overman (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…they soon complained of great thirst and a sense of suffocation. The overman, John Dyas, died that day and four others within the week; they were…”
• Return Airway (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…driven in the Heathen coal a few feet below the Thick and made the return airway. Some months after it was opened a fire was found just above its…”
• Spontaneous Combustion (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “A fire of unknown origin, thought to be spontaneous combustion, had burnt through everything between the Heathen coal and the old…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Titford Long Meadow Colliery Fire, Oldbury, 1874 (NMRS accidents and disasters) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery disaster, 23 July 1874: Titford Long Meadow (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 24 October 2026 · Last researched: 24 October 2026