Burley Pit

Overview

The deepest shaft of the Apedale and Podmore Hall complex near Halmer End, winding from seams lying at about forty degrees, and the scene of a run of explosions between 1878 and 1891 that killed more than forty men.

History

The Burley Pit was sunk on the ground between Apedale and Podmore Hall, in the steeply inclined measures west of Newcastle-under-Lyme. In 1885 it belonged to Messrs Stanier and Company as part of Apedale Colliery, a group of connected pits working seven or eight seams at an inclination of about forty degrees; the Burley was the deepest of them at 480 yards, drawing from the Eight Foot Banbury, the Seven Foot Banbury and the Ten Foot seams, and ventilated by a Guibal fan forty feet across turning at about thirty-five revolutions a minute. Wikipedia's account of the Minnie Pit describes the Burley instead as the principal winding pit of the Podmore Hall Colliery, the wider business whose downcast shaft the Minnie was: the two collieries lay side by side and the pit is claimed by both. It was a gassy and dangerous place. Explosions at the Burley killed twenty-three men on 23 March 1878, nine in June 1878 and ten on 2 April 1891. On 20 June 1885 another explosion tore through the Ten Foot seam. The assistant inspector, A. R. Sawyer, had found gas enough to flash his lamp in the Eight Foot Banbury workings that May and had ordered three months of restricted blasting; after the explosion he traced its origin to a shothole three feet five inches deep from which a charge had blown out, and found the coked dust on the timbers that told of a dust explosion. The inquiry heard that the firemen's report book had been filled in ahead of the shift, signed and left blank for the report to be written in later.

Geology

The North Staffordshire Coal Measures, here lying at an inclination of about forty degrees; the pit worked the Eight Foot Banbury, Seven Foot Banbury and Ten Foot seams.

Workings

The deepest shaft of the group at 480 yards, connected underground to the other Apedale pits, with a Guibal fan 40 feet in diameter and 12 feet wide; nearly 9,000 cubic feet of air a minute passed down a level 1,229 yards long.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Related mines

• Apedale Colliery — NMRS records the Burley as Apedale Colliery's deepest pit, connected underground with the rest of the group.
• Minnie Pit — Wikipedia makes the Burley the principal winding pit of Podmore Hall Colliery, whose downcast shaft was the Minnie.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• In 1885 the Burley Pit was part of Apedale Colliery, the property of Messrs Stanier and Company. (disputed) ¹
• The Burley Pit was the principal winding pit of the Podmore Hall Colliery, the business whose downcast shaft was the Minnie Pit. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The Burley was the deepest pit of the Apedale group at 480 yards, working the Eight Foot Banbury, Seven Foot Banbury and Ten Foot seams. ¹
• In 1885 the Burley Pit was part of Apedale Colliery, the property of Messrs Stanier and Company. (disputed) ¹
• The Burley Pit was the principal winding pit of the Podmore Hall Colliery, the business whose downcast shaft was the Minnie Pit. (disputed) ²
• The colliery was ventilated by a Guibal fan 40 feet in diameter and 12 feet wide running at 33 to 36 revolutions a minute, passing 8,980 cubic feet of air a minute down a level 1,229 yards long. ¹
• Explosions at the Burley Pit killed twenty-three men on 23 March 1878, nine in June 1878 and ten on 2 April 1891. ²
• An explosion in the Ten Foot seam on 20 June 1885 was traced by the assistant inspector to a blown-out shot, with coked dust on the timbers showing that coal dust had carried it. ¹
• The 1885 inquiry heard that the firemen's report book had been filled in under the date of the explosion and signed before the report itself was written. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Apedale Colliery Burley Pit Explosion — Newcastle-under-Lyme — 1885 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Minnie Pit Disaster — Wikipedia

Record created: 23 September 2026 · Last researched: 24 September 2026