Werfa Colliery explosion, 1849

On Monday 14 May 1849 a man carrying a Davy lamp went into a heading at Werfa Colliery, above Aberdare, that was fouled with gas, and a boy followed him with a candle. The gas exploded at the candle. Two young colliers were killed and three more died of their burns; twelve were injured in all. It was the colliery's second explosion in a week, and the inquest jury asked for a fireman to inspect the workings before the men went in.

Date	14 May 1849
Mine	Werfa Colliery
Region	Rhondda Cynon Taf
Type	Explosion
Fatalities	5 (William Jones, 20; David Clements, 25; Philip Lewis, 20, William Lloyd, 20, and Thomas Jones, 20, reported badly burned, whose deaths were registered in the following quarter. John Pugh, burned in the explosion of 8 May, is not counted here.)
Injuries	Twelve injured in all, among them Richard Wathan, 46, and his son Richard, 13, who were badly burned but survived.
Context	During active mining (Nixon and Company's young water-balance pit above Aberdare, worked with candles, a week after a first explosion there had fatally burned a collier.)

Cause

Firedamp in a fouled heading, ignited at the candle of a boy who followed a man carrying a Davy lamp.

Contributing factors

Naked candles were in use, and no one examined the workings for gas before the men entered; a week earlier John Pugh had been fatally burned taking a candle into an old heading against a warning.

What happened

Werfa Colliery, John Nixon's pit above Aberdare, was three years old in 1849 and worked with naked candles. On 8 May John Pugh, a collier of 29, went into an old heading to retrieve rails, having been cautioned not to enter it without a safety lamp; while his butty went for one he went in with a candle, the gas fired and he was severely burned. A preacher with the Latter Day Saints, he and his friends refused medical aid from the colliery doctor or any other, and he lingered a week before dying. On Monday 14 May a man carrying a Davy lamp went into a heading that was fouled with gas, and a boy followed him with a candle. The gas exploded at the candle. Twelve men were injured; the first report said three were dead and two not expected to survive. Five died in all: William Jones, David Clements, Philip Lewis, William Lloyd and Thomas Jones, four of them aged twenty and Clements twenty-five. The inquest jury recommended that a fireman be employed to inspect the workings before the men were allowed to enter. Two more disasters followed at the same pit within a decade: a broken chain in the balance pit in 1851 and another explosion in 1856.

Investigation & inquiry

The inquest jury's verdict included a recommendation that a fireman be employed to inspect the works before the men were allowed to enter.

Recorded claims

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

An explosion of gas at a naked light in a heading at Werfa Colliery on 14 May 1849 killed five: William Jones, 20, David Clements, 25, and three more who died of burns, Philip Lewis, William Lloyd and Thomas Jones, all 20. ^1,2,3
A man carrying a Davy lamp went into a heading that was fouled with gas, followed by a boy with a candle, at which the gas exploded; twelve were injured in all. ²
On 8 May John Pugh, 29, cautioned not to enter an old heading without a safety lamp, went in with a candle while his butty fetched a lamp; he was burned in an explosion and died a week later, having refused medical aid as a Latter Day Saints preacher. ^1,2
The inquest jury recommended that a fireman be employed to inspect the workings before the men were allowed in. ²

Related terminology

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

Buttyman (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s narrative: “…been cautioned not to enter it without a safety lamp; while his butty went for one he went in with a candle, the gas fired and he was…”
Fireman (contributing factor)
The jury asked for a fireman to inspect before work.
Naked Light (direct cause)
The gas fired at a boy's candle.
Safety Lamp (contextual relationship)
The man ahead carried a Davy lamp.
Water Balance (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s narrative: “…followed at the same pit within a decade: a broken chain in the balance pit in 1851 and another explosion in 1856.”

Sources

(secondary) Welsh mining fatalities, 1849 — Welsh Coal Mines
(secondary) Werfa — Welsh Coal Mines
(secondary) Werfa Dare Colliery (The Werfa Pits) — Northern Mine Research Society (information supplied by Ray Lawrence)

Record created: 14 September 2026 · Last researched: 16 September 2026