Warsop Main Colliery outburst, 1902

Gas under great pressure burst coal out of the face of a heading approaching a fault at Warsop Main Colliery on 7 March 1902, burying and suffocating the header and his loader.

Cause

An outburst: gas under pressure near a fault threw coal out of the heading face.

What happened

On 7 March 1902 Benjamin Cantrell, 26, a header, and Albert Edward Beresford, 24, his loader, were driving a heading in the Top Hard coal at the Staveley Coal and Iron Company's Warsop Main Colliery, near Shirebrook, towards a fault. Gas pent up under great pressure suddenly burst the coal out of the face of the heading, and both men were suffocated under it.

Recorded claims

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

• On 7 March 1902 two men were suffocated at Warsop Main Colliery. ^1,2,3
• The dead were Benjamin Cantrell, 26, header, and Albert Edward Beresford, 24, loader. ^1,2,3
• Pent-up gas under great pressure burst coal out of the face of a heading that was approaching a fault. ^1,2
• The colliery was owned by the Staveley Coal and Iron Company. ^2,3

Related terminology

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

• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named 4 times in this record, first in the summary: “Gas under great pressure burst coal out of the face of a heading approaching a fault at Warsop Main…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…coal out of the face of a heading approaching a fault at Warsop Main Colliery on 7 March 1902, burying and suffocating the header and his loader.”
• Fault (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…great pressure burst coal out of the face of a heading approaching a fault at Warsop Main Colliery on 7 March 1902, burying and suffocating the…”
• Filler (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…Colliery on 7 March 1902, burying and suffocating the header and his loader.”
• Outburst (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “An outburst: gas under pressure near a fault threw coal out of the heading face.”

Sources

1. (primary) Warsop Main Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Benjamin Cantrell, Warsop Main, 1902 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: Albert Edward Beresford, Warsop Main, 1902 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 18 October 2026 · Last researched: 18 October 2026