Victoria Colliery explosion, Bruntcliffe, 1882

Shortly before midnight on 1 May 1882 gas exploded in Stringer's Bord in the Middleton Main pit of J. Haigh and Sons' Victoria Colliery, Bruntcliffe, killing the deputy, five colliers and a boy. A second explosion at about 2 a.m. nearly caught the exploring party as they prepared to bring out the bodies.

Cause

Gas, perhaps from the goaf or a blower released as a shot was fired, ignited in Stringer's Bord; the second explosion was fired by the first.

What happened

The Middleton Main seam, 180 yards down, had been worked for about thirty years without a fatal explosion. Stringer's Bord was a separate district three-quarters of a mile from the shaft, measured a day or two before at 12,000 cubic feet of air a minute; the deputy in charge had examined it and the goaf that afternoon and found no gas, and fired a shot at two. That night seven men worked there with safety lamps, the deputy Frank Moss carrying the lamp key. The rest of the night shift, in the west side, were unaffected.

Laing, the proprietor Haigh, the deputy Gamble and others went down, repairing the ventilation as they went, and found all seven dead of afterdamp. As the bodies were being put into corves the second explosion came. Every lamp but Laing's went out, and the party ran 300 to 400 yards towards the shaft, nearly suffocated, until another party with a doctor reached them; the corves were thought to have shielded them. The bodies, burnt by the second blast, were recovered later that morning.

Rescue & recovery

The manager, a proprietor and others reached the bodies through afterdamp; caught by the second explosion, they were helped out by a second party with a doctor, and recovery was postponed until about 8 a.m.

Investigation & inquiry

At the inquiry the inspector, named as Waddell, found the ventilation good and every recovered lamp intact, with no matches or naked light, shots being fired by a heated wire through the gauze; he thought gas in the goaf or a blower released with a shot the likely source.

Recorded claims

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

• The explosion on 1 May 1882 killed seven in Stringer's Bord. ^1,2
• A second explosion at about 2 a.m. caught the exploring party, whose lamps all went out but the manager's. ¹
• All the lamps recovered were intact, and shots were fired by a heated wire passed through the gauze. ¹
• The pit had been worked about thirty years without loss of life from an explosion. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Afterdamp (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…repairing the ventilation as they went, and found all seven dead of afterdamp. As the bodies were being put into corves the second explosion came.…”
• Blower (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “Gas, perhaps from the goaf or a blower released as a shot was fired, ignited in Stringer's Bord; the second…”
• Deputy (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “…of J. Haigh and Sons' Victoria Colliery, Bruntcliffe, killing the deputy, five colliers and a boy. A second explosion at about 2 a.m. nearly…”
• Goaf (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the cause: “Gas, perhaps from the goaf or a blower released as a shot was fired, ignited in Stringer's…”
• Safety Lamp (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…gas, and fired a shot at two. That night seven men worked there with safety lamps, the deputy Frank Moss carrying the lamp key. The rest of the night…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Victoria Colliery Explosion - Bruntcliffe Leeds - 1882 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Victoria, Bruntcliffe, 1 May 1882 — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 3 October 2026 · Last researched: 3 October 2026