Brightside Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Brightside, two and a half miles north-east of Sheffield, worked from 1855 to the 1880s, where a pit rope broke in 1867 and five men fell to their deaths.

History

Brightside Colliery lay at Brightside, two and a half miles north-east of the centre of Sheffield. It was worked from 1855 to 1871, and a second working, Brightside (a), from 1869 to 1886; one of its shafts is recorded as the Upcast Shaft. Its early deaths were typical of a pit of its time: boys crushed by corves in the 1850s and 1860s, falls of roof and coal, and a man killed by a stone falling in the shaft in 1861.

On 23 October 1865 an explosion of firedamp killed George Parker, his son George and Francis Weelock. On 12 April 1867 the pit rope broke, and five men, among them Thomas Bates, a firetrier of 60, George and James Fox, labourers, the collier John Goldstraw and a filler of 18, Joshua Bergin, were killed. Deaths from falls of roof, incline accidents and runaway tubs continued through the 1870s, including drivers of 14 run over by tubs in 1867 and 1873, and the last recorded death at the colliery was in 1883.

A pit wheel and a plaque on Holywell Road, Brightside, now mark the site of the two collieries and commemorate the men who died there. The plaque quotes the Penny Illustrated Paper's report that the five men of 1867 were descending to begin work on the Friday evening when the wire rope broke and they fell some 200 yards, and the coroner's view that a defect in the rope's manufacture, unseen until it broke, was to blame.

Geology

Unknown.

Workings

Shafts including an Upcast Shaft; inclines with chain and jenny haulage.

Closure

The later working, Brightside (a), is listed until 1886.

What remains

A memorial pit wheel and plaque stand on Holywell Road, Brightside.

Disasters & major incidents

• Brightside Colliery rope breakage, 1867
  12 April 1867 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 5 fatalities
  On the evening of Friday 12 April 1867 the wire winding rope broke as five men were being lowered into Brightside Colliery, Sheffield, to begin work, and they fell some 200 yards to the bottom of the shaft. The coroner blamed a hidden defect in the rope's manufacture.

Recorded claims

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

• Brightside colliery, Sheffield, is listed from 1855 to 1871, and Brightside (a) from 1869 to 1886. ¹
• On 12 April 1867 the pit rope broke at Brightside Colliery and five men were killed. ²
• On 23 October 1865 an explosion of firedamp at Brightside killed George Parker, his son George and Francis Weelock. ²
• Abandonment plans of Brightside workings are dated 1880 and 1887. ^3,4
• A memorial pit wheel and plaque on Holywell Road, Brightside, commemorate the men killed at Brightside Colliery, naming the five killed when the rope broke on 12 April 1867. ^5,6
• The plaque records that the five were descending to begin work when the wire rope broke, falling about 200 yards, and that the coroner blamed a defect in the rope's manufacture. ⁶

Sources

1. (secondary) Coal Mines in Yorkshire 1854: B — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Brightside Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
3. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21899453: Brightside, abandoned 1880 — British Geological Survey
4. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21922623: Brightside, abandoned 1887 — British Geological Survey
5. (observational) Brightside Colliery Memorial Wheel, Holywell Road, Brightside (photograph) — Geograph Britain and Ireland
6. (observational) Brightside Colliery Memorial Wheel Plaque, Holywell Road, Brightside (photograph) — Geograph Britain and Ireland

Record created: 21 October 2026 · Last researched: 21 October 2026