MineArchiveTylecoch Colliery explosion, 1868
An explosion of firedamp at Tylacoch (Tylecoch) Colliery, Treorchy, on 23 January 1868 killed three colliers and injured several others among the twenty men underground. The inspector's report led to the owner's prosecution for working with a single shaft and allowing unlocked lamps.
| Date | 23 January 1868 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Tylecoch Colliery |
| Region | Rhondda Cynon Taf |
| Type | Explosion |
| Fatalities | 3 (David Thomas, 35, Thomas Lewis, 25, and John Lewis, 28, colliers. The first report of the inquest spoke of two killed; the later prosecution report gives three.) |
| Context | During active mining |
Cause
Firedamp from a blower about eleven yards back from the face, fired at Thomas Butler's stall; the inquest heard that Butler had taken the top off his lamp.
Contributing factors
The blower had run for three months and the roadway it came from had only been stopped off. Men lit their pipes by drawing the flame through the gauze of their lamps. An air door that may have been left open could have let the gas reach the face. The pit had a single shaft although the Nine Feet seam had recently been won and more than twenty men worked in it.
What happened
The collier Richard Davies told the inquiry that he had never seen gas fired at the blower and believed it safe while the air doors were shut. A thirteen-year-old door boy, Thomas Mart, had passed through the door between Butler's and Howell's stalls with the haulier James Price minutes before the explosion; he believed Price had closed it behind the drams, but could not say so for certain.
Investigation & inquiry
The coroner, Mr. Overton, opened the inquest at the Cardiff Arms Hotel, Treorchy, on 24 January and adjourned it more than once so that the district inspector, T. E. Wales, could give evidence. Wales's report to the Home Office found grave breaches of the mining statutes.
Legal & regulatory aftermath
At Pontypridd in April 1868 the owner, Thomas Jones of Cardiff, was prosecuted on two summonses: under the 1862 Act for working more than twenty men in a seam with one shaft, after Wales had twice warned him by letter, and under the 1860 Act for allowing lamps to be used unlocked. He admitted the first and was fined £5 and costs on each.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- An explosion of gas at Tylacoch Colliery, Treorchy, on 23 January 1868 killed three colliers and injured several more. 1,2
- The explosion was in Thomas Butler's stall; the inquest heard that Butler had taken the top off his lamp. 1,3
- A blower of gas had been coming off about eleven yards back from the face for three months, and men lit their pipes by drawing the flame through the gauze of their lamps. 1
- In April 1868 the owner, Thomas Jones of Cardiff, was fined £5 and costs on each of two charges: working the Nine Feet seam with more than twenty men from a single shaft, and allowing unlocked lamps. 2
Related terminology
Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.
- Blower (contextual relationship)
Named 3 times in this record, first in the cause: “Firedamp from a blower about eleven yards back from the face, fired at Thomas Butler's…” - Firedamp (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “An explosion of firedamp at Tylacoch (Tylecoch) Colliery, Treorchy, on 23 January 1868 killed…” - Haulier (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s narrative: “…through the door between Butler's and Howell's stalls with the haulier James Price minutes before the explosion; he believed Price had…” - Stall (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “…about eleven yards back from the face, fired at Thomas Butler's stall; the inquest heard that Butler had taken the top off his lamp.” - Tub (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s narrative: “…before the explosion; he believed Price had closed it behind the drams, but could not say so for certain.”
Sources
- (secondary) Mining fatalities, 1868 - Welsh Coal Mines — Welsh Coal Mines
- (primary) The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, 25 April 1868: A colliery proprietor fined — The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian (Welsh Newspapers Online, National Library of Wales)
- (primary) The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian, 15 February 1868: Local and district news: the Tylacoch Colliery inquest — The Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian (Welsh Newspapers Online, National Library of Wales)
Record created: 19 October 2026 · Last researched: 19 October 2026