Washington Colliery explosion, 1796

On 12 February 1796 an explosion at New Washington colliery, County Durham, killed six people, and the colliery's F Pit was abandoned after an explosion the same year.

Date	12 February 1796
Mine	Washington Colliery
Region	Tyne and Wear
Type	Explosion
Fatalities	6 (Six people, not named.)
Context	During active mining

A steel lattice pithead frame and its winding wheel seen against a cloudy sky through a diamond-mesh window grille. — Headgear of the later Washington F Pit, sunk in 1820 near the pit abandoned after the explosion of 1796, seen through the winding-house window Dianne Snowdon, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cause

An explosion.

What happened

Washington Colliery, on the north side of the Wear in County Durham, was worked in the eighteenth century by William Russell and Partners from a group of pits lettered A to I. On 12 February 1796 an explosion in the colliery, then called New Washington, killed six people. Their names are not recorded.

The F Pit, probably sunk in 1777, had to be abandoned after an explosion that year. Whether the six died in it is not recorded. A new F Pit was sunk nearby in 1820 and became the colliery's last working shaft; its headgear and winding house survive as a museum.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

The F Pit was abandoned after an explosion in 1796, and a new F Pit was sunk nearby in 1820.

Recorded claims

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

On 12 February 1796 an explosion in New Washington colliery killed six people. ^1,2,3
The F Pit of Washington Colliery, probably sunk in 1777, had to be abandoned after an explosion in 1796, and a new F Pit was sunk nearby in 1820. ²
The colliery belonged to William Russell and Partners and was worked from a series of pits lettered A to I. ²

Related terminology

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

Colliery (contextual relationship)
Named 5 times in this record, first in the summary: “On 12 February 1796 an explosion at New Washington colliery, County Durham, killed six people, and the colliery's F Pit was…”
Headgear (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s narrative: “…nearby in 1820 and became the colliery's last working shaft; its headgear and winding house survive as a museum.”
Shaft (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s narrative: “…F Pit was sunk nearby in 1820 and became the colliery's last working shaft; its headgear and winding house survive as a museum.”
Winding Engine (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s narrative: “…1820 and became the colliery's last working shaft; its headgear and winding house survive as a museum.”

Sources

(primary) Washington Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
(secondary) Collieries — Washington History Society
(primary) Colliery Disaster 1796: New Washington, 12 February 1796 — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 5 October 2026 · Last researched: 6 October 2026