Withymoor Colliery shaft accident, 1864

On the evening of 16 November 1864 a winding chain snapped at Withymoor Colliery, near Rowley Regis, and a skip carrying eight men and boys fell about 70 yards with ninety yards of chain on top of it. The pulley frame had been leaning as an underground fire made the ground beneath it sink, and three inquest juries blamed three different men.

Cause

The frame carrying the pulley was about fifteen and a half inches out of the perpendicular, so the chain caught on the horns of the drum on the side towards which the frame leaned; on the fatal wind it caught on the point of a horn, fell onto the square drum shaft, and snapped on its sharp angle. The chain itself was sound and when tested bore 19 tons 3 cwt.

Contributing factors

An underground fire a few feet below the surface had for a year made the ground under the frame subside, more on one side than the other. The frame had often been adjusted by raising the sunken leg; a strike had stopped work for some weeks, during which the subsidence went on, and the leg had been raised several times since. The engineman admitted that he had not thought the machinery safe that day but had complained to no one.

What happened

Withymoor was worked by Edwin and Joseph Nock, Edwin Nock taking the general management. At about a quarter past six on the evening of Wednesday 16 November 1864 a skip carrying eight men and boys was being raised when the chain caught on one of the horns of the drum, fell upon the square drum shaft and snapped. The skip fell about 70 yards, about 90 yards of chain fell upon it, and all eight were killed on the spot.

Investigation & inquiry

James P. Baker, H.M. Inspector, examined the winding apparatus and found the chain good and the pulley frame out of true. Three inquests were held, one before Brook Robinson, coroner for Worcestershire, and two before Edwin Hooper, a Staffordshire coroner. The first jury returned manslaughter against the manager, Zechariah Mason, and the engineer Leedham; the second, after Edwin Nock said that the engineman alone was responsible for that pit's machinery and that Mason was only the doggy, returned manslaughter against Nock himself; the third returned manslaughter against the engineman, Francis Downing, expressly exonerating Nock, Leedham and Mason.

Legal & regulatory aftermath

All four men committed by the juries awaited trial at the March 1865 assizes. Baker wrote that the contradictory verdicts, and still more the accident itself, showed the want of better discipline and of a more distinct vesting of responsibility in particular persons.

Recorded claims

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

• At about a quarter past six on the evening of 16 November 1864 the winding chain at Edwin and Joseph Nock's Withymoor Colliery snapped and a skip carrying eight men and boys fell about 70 yards, with some 90 yards of chain on top of it; all eight were killed. ^1,2
• The pulley frame had been allowed to lean about fifteen and a half inches out of the perpendicular, so the chain caught on a horn of the drum, fell onto the square drum shaft and snapped. ^1,2
• An underground fire a few feet below the surface had made the ground under the frame sink unevenly, and its sunken leg had been 'pecked up' several times since work resumed after a strike. ^1,2
• Three inquests returned manslaughter verdicts against different men: the manager Zechariah Mason and the engineer Leedham, then the proprietor Edwin Nock, then the engineman Francis Downing, the last jury exonerating the others. ^1,2

Related terminology

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

• Borehole (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s cause: “…on its sharp angle. The chain itself was sound and when tested bore 19 tons 3 cwt.”
• Colliery (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s summary: “…the evening of 16 November 1864 a winding chain snapped at Withymoor Colliery, near Rowley Regis, and a skip carrying eight men and boys fell…”
• Shaft (contextual relationship)
  Named twice in this record, first in the cause: “…wind it caught on the point of a horn, fell onto the square drum shaft, and snapped on its sharp angle. The chain itself was sound and when…”
• Skip (contextual relationship)
  Named 3 times in this record, first in the summary: “…chain snapped at Withymoor Colliery, near Rowley Regis, and a skip carrying eight men and boys fell about 70 yards with ninety yards of…”
• Subsidence (contextual relationship)
  Named in this record’s contributing factors: “…leg; a strike had stopped work for some weeks, during which the subsidence went on, and the leg had been raised several times since. The…”

Sources

1. (secondary) Withymore Colliery Shaft Accident, Rowley Regis, 1864 (NMRS accidents and disasters) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery disaster, 16 November 1864: Withymore (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum

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