Hayeswood Colliery

Overview

A Timsbury pit in the Somerset coalfield, in operation by 1750 and from 1792 under the Palmer, Mogg and Crang partnership, served by the Somerset Coal Canal. On 4 February 1845 water from old workings flooded it and eleven men and boys drowned; it closed that June, was worked again by the Samborne family in the 1850s, and closed for good about 1862.

History

Hayeswood was one of the collieries of Timsbury parish in the north of the Somerset coalfield. It was at work by about 1750, and in 1792 it came under the Palmer, Mogg and Crang partnership. From 1795 the Somerset Coal Canal, starting at Gooseyard bridge in the parish, served Hayeswood with the Amesbury, Mearns, Tyning, Old Grove and Conygre pits. Its shaft was 6 feet across and 642 feet deep by the parish history; the NMRS account gives 164 fathoms, with a pumping shaft of 190 yards beside it. In 1841 a new coke oven was decided on.

By 1845 the pit belonged to S. S. P. Samborne and Company of Timsbury. On 23 January a hudge carrying seven men was drawn over the winding wheel and they were injured, which was blamed on the engineman's inattention. On 4 February, with almost a hundred men and boys below, water from old flooded workings, for which there were no plans, broke into the mine about a mile from the shaft, and eleven men and boys drowned (see Disasters, below).

The pit was closed and its men and output shared among neighbouring workings; attempts to pump it out failed, and it was abandoned in June 1845. S. S. Samborne, the landowner, took over the pit and plant, and it was working again by 1856, but by May 1858 its profits were in doubt, and it closed in or about 1862.

Geology

Unknown.

Workings

A winding shaft 6 feet in diameter with a parallel pumping shaft, and wagonways running some 400 yards beyond the workings about a mile from the shaft; a coke oven on the surface from 1841.

Closure

Flooded from old workings in February 1845 and abandoned that June when pumping failed; reworked by the landowner in the 1850s and closed about 1862 as profits fell away.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Hayeswood Colliery inrush, 1845
  4 February 1845 · Flooding / Inundation · 11 fatalities
  Early on 4 February 1845, with almost a hundred men and boys underground at Hayeswood Colliery, Timsbury, the workings broke into old flooded ground for which there were no plans. The water rushed in about a mile from the shaft; most escaped in the dark, but seven men and four boys drowned. The pit never recovered from the flood.

What's uncertain

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

• The shaft was 642 feet deep. (disputed) ¹
• The shaft was 164 fathoms deep, with a pumping shaft 190 yards deep beside it. (disputed) ⁴

Recorded claims

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

• Hayeswood Colliery was in operation by about 1750. ^1,2
• It came under the Palmer, Mogg and Crang partnership in 1792. ¹
• The Somerset Coal Canal served Hayeswood among Timsbury's seven coal mines. ³
• In 1845 the pit belonged to S. S. P. Samborne and Company of Timsbury. ⁴
• The shaft was 642 feet deep. (disputed) ¹
• The shaft was 164 fathoms deep, with a pumping shaft 190 yards deep beside it. (disputed) ⁴
• On 4 February 1845 the workings were flooded from old workings. ^4,1,2
• Reworked by 1856, the pit closed in or about 1862. ^1,2

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Timsbury community website: Hayeswood Pit Disaster 1845 — Timsbury Parish Council
2. (secondary) Timsbury community website: Chronology — Timsbury Parish Council
3. (secondary) Wikipedia: Timsbury, Somerset — Wikipedia
4. (secondary) NMRS: Hayes Wood Colliery Inrush, Somerset, 1845 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 11 October 2026 · Last researched: 11 October 2026