Warrickhill Colliery shaft explosion, 1857

On 6 August 1857 firedamp exploded in the newly sunk shaft of Merry and Cuninghame's Warrickhill Colliery, near Kilmarnock, an hour after a scaffold had been laid at the Ell coal. The blast drove the scaffold and part of the midwall to the bottom, and the two sinkers working on it, Andrew Fulton and William Neil, were found dead among the wreckage.

Cause

Firedamp from the lower shaft, which was known to give it off, built up to an explosive mixture because the newly laid scaffold at the Ell coal cut off the ventilation.

What happened

The pit had been sunk a short time before, 58 fathoms deep: 41 fathoms to the Ell coal, the seam to be worked, and 58 to the Main, which had been worked for a few feet and abandoned. The oversman had built a scaffold at the Ell coal for the men to begin from. Fulton and Neil had worked about an hour at the seam when firedamp exploded, forcing the scaffold and a quantity of the midwall to the bottom of the shaft, where both men were found among the debris.

Investigation & inquiry

The inspector of mines found the direct cause in the scaffold. The cuttings for its needles showed it had been built, if not close, then without any estimate of the ventilation required, so the air passing through to the lower shaft, which was well known to give off firedamp, was so reduced that the mixture reached the explosive point an hour after the scaffold was laid. He held that such shafts needed regular ventilation, with openings in the scaffolding on each side of the midwall to act as downcast and upcast.

Recorded claims

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

• On 6 August 1857 two sinkers, Andrew Fulton and William Neil, were killed at Warrickhill Colliery, near Kilmarnock, by an explosion of firedamp in the shaft. ^1,2
• They had worked about an hour from a scaffold newly built at the Ell coal, 41 fathoms down, when the explosion forced the scaffold and part of the midwall to the bottom of the shaft. ¹
• The inspector found the scaffold had been built without any thought of ventilation, so that too little air reached the gassy lower part of the shaft and the gas reached the explosive point within an hour. ¹
• He urged that scaffolds in such shafts be built with openings on each side of the midwall, one acting as a downcast and the other as an upcast. ¹

Related terminology

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

• Downcast Shaft and Upcast Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the investigation: “…openings in the scaffolding on each side of the midwall to act as downcast and upcast.”
• Fathom (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “The pit had been sunk a short time before, 58 fathoms deep: 41 fathoms to the Ell coal, the seam to be worked, and 58 to…”
• Firedamp (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “On 6 August 1857 firedamp exploded in the newly sunk shaft of Merry and Cuninghame's…”
• HM Chief Inspector of Mines (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “The inspector of mines found the direct cause in the scaffold. The cuttings for its needles…”
• Overman (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…to the Main, which had been worked for a few feet and abandoned. The oversman had built a scaffold at the Ell coal for the men to begin from.…”

Sources

1. (secondary) 1857 Fatal Accidents — Scottish Mining Website
2. (primary) Warrickhill Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 21 October 2026 · Last researched: 21 October 2026