Wern Colliery Explosion, Cwmafan, 1844

A naked candle carried into a gas-filled stall at this Cwm Avon coal level ignited firedamp, killing three men outright; a fourth died soon after while helping recover the bodies.

Cause

Two colliers working a stall used a safety lamp; a third man, Thomas Williams, entered the immediately adjoining stall with a naked candle rather than a safety lamp. The candle ignited firedamp that had accumulated there.

What happened

At Wern level, part of the Governor and Company of Copper Miners' Cwm Avon Works, colliers travelled each morning along the horse-drawn tram-road into the mountain and up into individual stalls to work the coal. A little after eight o'clock, two men went into their stall carrying a safety lamp. Thomas Williams, working the immediately adjoining stall, went in with a naked candle instead. He had barely entered before firedamp ignited; the explosion killed all three men instantly, their bodies hurled out of the stalls into the horse-way in a mutilated state. Two other colliers working close by narrowly escaped — one, only six to eight feet away, was thrown to the ground by the blast but otherwise unhurt after a dead man's body was hurled past him; he and another man ran for help. The surviving workmen tried at once to recover the bodies, but the air underground was so foul and sulphurous that their lights repeatedly went out, and it took several hours to bring the dead out. During the rescue, William Jones, hurrying to help his fellow workmen, collapsed from the bad air and was suffocated, becoming the explosion's fourth victim. Two surgeons had been in attendance from the first, but could do nothing for any of the four. An inquest returned a verdict of accidental death. Thomas Williams left a widow and one child; John Thomas, William Gregory and William Jones were all single men. Their funerals were followed, the newspaper reported, by almost the entire body of the local inhabitants. The Welshman used the disaster to renew its long-standing call for Parliament to legislate compulsory registration and inspection of mines — a reform that would not arrive in any real form until the Coal Mines Inspection Act of 1850.

Investigation & inquiry

An inquest was held on the bodies and returned a verdict of accidental death; no fuller inquest record than the newspaper's own account has been found.

Related terminology

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

• Bad Air (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s narrative: “…Jones, hurrying to help his fellow workmen, collapsed from the bad air and was suffocated, becoming the explosion's fourth victim. Two…”
• Firedamp (direct cause)
  The Welshman's 1844 report is explicit that firedamp, ignited by a naked candle, caused the explosion.
• Level (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “A naked candle carried into a gas-filled stall at this Cwm Avon coal level ignited firedamp, killing three men outright; a fourth died soon…”
• Safety Lamp (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “Two colliers working a stall used a safety lamp; a third man, Thomas Williams, entered the immediately adjoining…”
• Stall (contextual relationship)
  Named 7 times in this record, first in the summary: “A naked candle carried into a gas-filled stall at this Cwm Avon coal level ignited firedamp, killing three men…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Fatal Colliery Explosion Near Neath — The Welshman (1844-12-06)
2. (secondary) Small Collieries in the Afan Valley and surrounding areas — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 15 September 2026 · Last researched: 15 September 2026