Water Haigh Colliery scaffold collapse, 1911

On Tuesday 1 February 1911 a scaffold in No. 1 shaft at Water Haigh, then still being sunk, gave way and the foreman joiner Herbert Pickersgill fell three hundred feet to his death. Three other men on the scaffold escaped and were got out by the assistant undermanager. Pickersgill had been one of the rescuers in the shaft collapse of the previous November, and eleven weeks after his death the King awarded him the Edward Medal of the Second Class for it; the medal was given to his widow.

Cause

The scaffold on which the men were working in No. 1 shaft gave way, and Pickersgill fell about three hundred feet to the bottom.

Contributing factors

Water Haigh was a difficult sinking. No. 1 shaft was twenty feet across and its strata were sandstones, shales and fireclays, dry as cut but running with water afterwards, the fireclays taking up water and growing heavier. Two shaft collapses had already happened during the sinking, in May and November 1910, and after the second the coroner had asked whether too much of the shaft wall was being left unsupported by brickwork ahead of the sinking.

What happened

Henry Briggs, Son and Company had been sinking at Woodlesford since 1908 and by the beginning of 1911 the pit had still not produced any coal. It had already cost several lives: a collapse in May 1910, and another on 19 November 1910 at a depth of 255 yards, when a mass of shale fell out of the seam, the timbering collapsed and the iron rings holding the unbricked sides broke away while ten men were at work on or about a scaffold near the bottom. The chargeman James Cannon saw the shale falling, shouted to everyone to make for the centre of the shaft and signalled for means of ascent; he and five others jumped clear, and four were caught. Patrick Joseph Berine, an Irish sinker of twenty-four from Roscommon, was killed on the spot; James Phelan, 39, died in Leeds Infirmary days later. Herbert Pickersgill, the foreman joiner, was one of the men who went back down with Cannon to cut through the oak crib and free those who were trapped, while shale and other material kept coming down the shaft. He was in the pit a long time and, in the Gazette's words, risked his life. On Tuesday 1 February 1911 a scaffold in No. 1 shaft gave way under him and he fell three hundred feet. He was forty-six and lived at Cross Leonard Street in Woodlesford; he left his widow Maria and a daughter of fourteen, Edith. Three other men on the scaffold escaped and were rescued by the assistant undermanager, Frank Williams. In April the awards for the November rescue were announced: a first class Edward Medal for Cannon, an additional bar for George Handle Silkstone, and second class medals for Percy Asquith, Joseph Artis and Pickersgill, whose was given to his widow. The first coal from the Silkstone seam reached the surface up No. 1 shaft on 20 April 1911.

Rescue & recovery

The three other men on the scaffold were rescued by the assistant undermanager, Frank Williams.

Investigation & inquiry

No inquest verdict on this death is recorded. The inquest into the November 1910 collapse had returned that nothing had been done to prove neglect and that the affair was a pure accident, the contractors and colliery officials maintaining they had done all they could to prevent a further collapse.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

None recorded.

Changes to practice & legislation

None recorded. The sinking was completed and coal was drawn from the Silkstone seam eleven weeks after Pickersgill's death.

Memorials & commemoration

The Edward Medal of the Second Class, announced at Whitehall on 20 April 1911 and gazetted on 25 April, was awarded to Pickersgill posthumously and given to his widow.

Recorded claims

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

• On Tuesday 1 February 1911 a scaffolding in No. 1 shaft at Water Haigh gave way and Herbert Pickersgill fell three hundred feet to his death. ¹
• Pickersgill was forty-six, the foreman joiner, and lived at Cross Leonard Street in Woodlesford; he left a widow, Maria, and a fourteen-year-old daughter, Edith. ¹
• Three other men escaped and were rescued by the assistant undermanager, Frank Williams. ¹
• The accident happened before Water Haigh had produced any coal; the first coal from the Silkstone seam reached the surface up No. 1 shaft on 20 April 1911. ¹
• On 19 November 1910 a shaft collapse at a depth of 255 yards caught four of ten men working on a scaffold near the bottom; Pickersgill was among those who went back down to free the trapped men, the oak crib having to be sawn through while shale kept falling, and he was in the pit a long time and risked his life. ^1,2
• The award of the Edward Medal of the Second Class to Pickersgill, 'who unfortunately lost his life in a subsequent accident', was announced at Whitehall on 20 April 1911 and gazetted on 25 April; the medal was given to his widow. ^1,2
• The same announcement gave James Cannon the Edward Medal of the First Class, an additional bar to George Handle Silkstone's first class medal, and second class medals to Percy Asquith and Joseph Artis. ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Coal (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…Artis and Pickersgill, whose was given to his widow. The first coal from the Silkstone seam reached the surface up No. 1 shaft on 20…”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s investigation: “…neglect and that the affair was a pure accident, the contractors and colliery officials maintaining they had done all they could to prevent a…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named 10 times in this record, first in the summary: “On Tuesday 1 February 1911 a scaffold in No. 1 shaft at Water Haigh, then still being sunk, gave way and the foreman…”
• Shaft Sinking (contextual relationship)
  Named 6 times in this record, first in the contributing factors: “Water Haigh was a difficult sinking. No. 1 shaft was twenty feet across and its strata were sandstones,…”

Photographs & further reading

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

Sources

1. (secondary) Water Haigh Colliery: the 1910 Disaster — Woodlesford Station Local History
2. (primary) Awards for Gallantry: Herbert Pickersgill, Edward Medal Second Class — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 24 September 2026 · Last researched: 24 September 2026