Bilsthorpe Colliery

Overview

A north Nottinghamshire colliery worked from 1925 to 1997, struck by three separate multiple-fatality disasters across its working life and recording 77 deaths at the pit in total.

History

Bilsthorpe Colliery was sunk from July 1925 by the Stanton Ironworks Co. Ltd, with two shafts completed by 1928; ownership passed to the National Coal Board on its formation on 1 January 1947, then to British Coal from 1986 and RJB Mining before the pit's eventual closure. Across its 72-year working life, 77 people died at the colliery, including three separate multiple-fatality disasters. In the early hours of 1 March 1927, during shaft-sinking operations, a burst water pipe brought perhaps 100 tons of shattered ironwork crashing down No. 1 Shaft -- then 276 yards deep -- onto nine men on staging at the bottom and eight more being lowered in a hoppit; fourteen men were killed and three injured, in what a contemporary newspaper called the worst pit disaster in the Nottinghamshire coalfield since 1913. Rescuers worked against water rising at four feet an hour to reach the entombed men; the King and Queen sent their condolences. On 26 July 1934, two separate firedamp explosions in the North West No. 6 district, the first triggered by a shotfiring operation igniting accumulated gas, killed nine men in total -- six in the first explosion and three more in a second blast around three hours later, likely caused by continued gas accumulation after ventilation was altered in response to the first. A further 40 men were injured between the two explosions, and an inquest jury returned a verdict of accidental death caused by unforeseen circumstances. The pit's worst modern disaster came on 18 August 1993, when a roof collapsed nearly 2,000 feet underground and four miles from the shaft bottom as development workers drove a tunnel through to a new coal seam, killing Bill McCulloch, 26, Peter Alcock, 50, and under-manager David Shelton, 31; a 1994 report by HM Inspectorate of Mines attributed the collapse to unsafe roof bolting. Shelton was posthumously awarded the George Medal in 1995 for forgoing his own chance of escape to warn his colleagues; three other men, trapped by some 7,000 tonnes of collapsed rock, survived. Bilsthorpe Colliery closed in 1997, and a memorial to those who died there was unveiled in October 2011; the site is now Bilsthorpe Business Park.

Workings

Worked via a shaft sinking programme completed by 1928; its No. 1 shaft was 276 yards deep, and by the 1990s development work extended some four miles from the shaft bottom.

Closure

Closed in 1997.

What remains

Redeveloped as Bilsthorpe Business Park; a memorial to the 77 men who died at the colliery was unveiled in October 2011.

Abandoned workings can be dangerous — unstable ground, uncapped shafts, flooding and bad air are common even where a site looks safe from the surface. This entry describes history and general location only; it is not an access guide.

Disasters & major incidents

• Bilsthorpe Colliery Piping Collapse (1927)
  1 March 1927 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 14 fatalities
  A burst water pipe brought roughly 100 tons of shattered ironwork crashing down the sinking shaft, killing fourteen men working below.
• Bilsthorpe Colliery Explosions (1934)
  26 July 1934 · Explosion · 9 fatalities
  Two separate firedamp explosions three hours apart in the North West No. 6 district killed nine men and injured a further forty.
• Bilsthorpe Colliery Roof Collapse (1993)
  18 August 1993 · Collapse / Roof Fall · 3 fatalities
  A roof collapse caused by unsafe roof bolting killed three men nearly 2,000 feet underground as they drove a tunnel toward a new coal seam; an under-manager was posthumously awarded the George Medal for warning his colleagues.

Recorded claims

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

• Bilsthorpe Colliery was sunk from July 1925 by the Stanton Ironworks Co. Ltd, with two shafts completed by 1928; ownership passed to the National Coal Board in 1947, then to British Coal from 1986 and RJB Mining before closure in 1997, with 77 deaths recorded at the pit across its working life. ¹
• In the early hours of 1 March 1927, during shaft-sinking operations, a burst water pipe brought roughly 100 tons of shattered ironwork crashing down the 276-yard-deep No. 1 Shaft onto nine men on staging and eight more being lowered in a hoppit, killing fourteen and injuring three; rescuers worked against water rising four feet an hour, and the King and Queen sent their condolences. ²
• On 18 August 1993, a roof collapse nearly 2,000 feet underground killed Bill McCulloch (26), Peter Alcock (50) and under-manager David Shelton (31); a 1994 HM Inspectorate of Mines report attributed the collapse to unsafe roof bolting, and Shelton was posthumously awarded the George Medal in 1995 for warning colleagues at the cost of his own escape. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Bilsthorpe Colliery — Wikipedia
2. (secondary) Bilsthorpe Mining Disaster, 1st March 1927 -- 14 men lost their lives (Nottinghamshire Mining Museum, contemporary Evening Post report) — Nottinghamshire Mining Museum

Record created: 31 August 2026 · Last researched: 31 August 2026