Houghton Main Colliery

Overview

A Barnsley-area colliery sunk in the 1870s whose ninety-year working life was marked by three separate disasters, each with a fully named list of the dead, spanning a Victorian cage accident, an inter-war explosion and a 1975 blast that led to a major public inquiry.

History

Houghton Main Colliery was sunk at Little Houghton, around five miles east of Barnsley, with two shafts started between 1873 and 1878 by the Houghton Main Coal Co., later Houghton Main Colliery Co. Ltd. Both original shafts were 14 feet in diameter, deepened in 1919-21, and a third, 20-foot-diameter upcast shaft was sunk in 1924-28, later deepened to 823 yards by 1937-40. The colliery worked the Barnsley, Thorncliffe, Meltonfield, Beamshaw, Parkgate and Winter seams over its lifetime, with coal from the upper seams transported underground to be wound at the neighbouring Grimethorpe Colliery. Employment grew from around 990 in 1894 to a peak of over 2,600 by 1947, standing at one of eighteen collieries in the NCB's Barnsley Area after nationalisation in 1947. The colliery's working life was marked by three separate disasters, each killing five or more men (see Disasters, below): a cage overwinding accident on 30 December 1886 that killed 10; an explosion during shot-firing on 12 December 1930 that killed 7; and an explosion in the Meltonfield seam on 12 June 1975 that killed 5 and led to a major public inquiry into ventilation and shot-firing practice across the industry. Houghton Main closed in the early 1990s, with production ceasing around October 1992, though some accounts place the final closure in 1993.

Workings

Two shafts sunk 1873-78, deepened 1919-21; a third, upcast shaft sunk 1924-28 and deepened to 823 yards by 1937-40, drawing coal from the Barnsley, Thorncliffe, Meltonfield, Beamshaw, Parkgate and Winter seams.

Closure

Production ceased around October 1992, with some accounts giving final closure in 1993; the precise date was not conclusively established from the sources checked for this pass.

What remains

No specific present-day surface condition was established from the sources checked for this pass.

No specific surviving colliery structures were established from the sources checked for this pass.

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

• Houghton Main Colliery shaft accident, 1886
  30 December 1886 · Winding / Shaft Accident · 10 fatalities
  An overwound cage struck the headframe and fell 535 yards down the shaft at Houghton Main Colliery on the morning of 30 December 1886, killing all 10 men and boys riding in it; the engineman was tried for manslaughter and acquitted.
• Houghton Main Colliery explosion, 1930
  12 December 1930 · Explosion · 7 fatalities
  A firedamp explosion during ripping operations at Houghton Main Colliery killed seven men in December 1930, after a deputy fired a fourth shot hole despite reportedly detecting a break in the coal that should have prompted a check for gas.
• Houghton Main Colliery explosion, 1975
  12 June 1975 · Explosion · 5 fatalities
  An explosion in the Meltonfield seam at Houghton Main Colliery on 12 June 1975 killed five men after firedamp, which had accumulated in an unventilated heading for nine days, was ignited by frictional sparking from an auxiliary fan; a major public inquiry followed.

Recorded claims

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

• Two shafts, each 14 feet in diameter, were sunk between 1873 and 1878 by the Houghton Main Coal Co. ^1,2
• A third, 20-foot-diameter upcast shaft was sunk in 1924-28, and later deepened to 823 yards by 1937-40. ^1,2
• After nationalisation in 1947, Houghton Main was one of eighteen mines in the NCB's Barnsley Area. ¹
• The colliery suffered three separate disasters each killing five or more: a cage accident in 1886 (10 dead), an explosion in 1930 (7 dead) and an explosion in 1975 (5 dead). ²

Sources

1. (secondary) Houghton Main Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Durham Mining Museum - Houghton Main Colliery — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 27 August 2026 · Last researched: 27 August 2026