Upper Bank Pit inrush, 1905

Shortly before midday on 27 November 1905 water burst into a level at Upper Bank Pit, Llansamlet, with about 150 men underground; all escaped, the last of them a boy found unhurt in a tram that the flood had washed into the timbers.

Cause

Water broke into No. 2 East Level.

What happened

Upper Bank Pit had been opened only the year before by Foxhole Collieries Ltd. Shortly before midday on Monday 27 November 1905 water broke into No. 2 East Level, where Griffith Williams, his son and a boy, Thomas Morgan, were working. They were swept off their feet and carried into the roadway, and the water ran on through the level carrying props and trams with it. About 150 men were below. Those in No. 3 East and West Levels were warned in time and escaped by the airway, and by a quarter past twelve all but Thomas Morgan were on the surface.

Rescue & recovery

A party went back through water waist deep, expecting to find the boy dead, and found him unhurt in a tram that had been washed into the timbers. The manager, J. Hopkins, and the under-manager, David A. Jones, were praised for their coolness in directing the rescue.

Recorded claims

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

• Shortly before midday on Monday 27 November 1905 water broke into No. 2 East Level at Upper Bank Pit. ^1,2
• About 150 men were below; all escaped and no lives were lost. ^1,2
• Men in No. 3 East and West Levels were warned in time and escaped by the airway. ²
• The boy Thomas Morgan, the last missing, was found unhurt in a tram washed into the timbers. ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Level (contextual relationship)
  Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “Shortly before midday on 27 November 1905 water burst into a level at Upper Bank Pit, Llansamlet, with about 150 men underground; all…”
• Tub (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…underground; all escaped, the last of them a boy found unhurt in a tram that the flood had washed into the timbers.”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Mynydd Newydd Colliery — Welsh Coal Mines
2. (primary) Evening Express, 28 November 1905: Colliery flooded. Miraculous escapes near Llansamlet — National Library of Wales, Welsh Newspapers

Record created: 10 October 2026 · Last researched: 10 October 2026