Lillydale Colliery

Overview

A small colliery at Bucknall, near Hanley, opened about 1856 and often changing hands, where in 1881 men driving towards flooded old workings let in water and gas that exploded, killing nine.

History

Lillydale Colliery at Bucknall was opened about 1856 by Messrs Forrester, Gerrard and Hawkes. It was never extensive, and it changed hands so often that it seems never to have paid well. By May 1881 Enoch Perrins had owned it for under a year and employed only a small number of men, who worked with naked lights about 160 yards down in the Cockshead seam. A fire had burned for months in old workings near the upcast, and the mine had no certificated manager; the owner had earlier been fined.

On 3 May 1881, on Perrins's instructions, the butties were driving headings towards old workings to drain them and reach coal beyond, without the boreholes the colliery's rules required. The water broke in, drove gas from the goaf onto naked lights, and an explosion killed nine. The inquest found Perrins guilty of manslaughter; he was acquitted at Stafford Assizes. A plan of the Cockshead workings was deposited as abandoned in 1890, and of the Brick-kiln seam in 1922.

Geology

North Staffordshire Coal Measures: the Cockshead seam, worked about 160 yards down in 1881 beside flooded old workings, and the Brick-kiln seam.

Workings

Headings driven in the Cockshead seam on a dip towards flooded old workings; naked lights; a fire burning in old workings near the upcast in 1881.

Closure

Plans of the Cockshead seam were deposited as abandoned in 1881 and 1890, and of the Brick-kiln seam in 1922.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Lillydale Colliery inrush and explosion, 1881
  3 May 1881 · Explosion · 9 fatalities
  At about 10.45 a.m. on 3 May 1881 men driving headings towards flooded old workings at Enoch Perrins's Lillydale Colliery, near Hanley, tapped the water; it drove gas from the goaf onto naked lights and the gas exploded, killing nine. The jury found the manager guilty of manslaughter.

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery was opened about 25 years before 1881 by Messrs Forrester, Gerrard and Hawkes, and had changed hands many times. ¹
• It was stated at the inquest that the mine had no certified manager and had been on fire for a considerable time. ^2,3
• Water tapped from old workings drove gas onto naked lights on 3 May 1881, and nine died. ^2,4
• The jury found the manager, Enoch Perrins, guilty of manslaughter; he was acquitted at Stafford Assizes. ²
• A plan of the Brick-kiln seam at Lillydale was deposited as abandoned in 1922. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Lillydale Colliery 1881 — Healey Hero
2. (secondary) Lillydale Colliery Inrush and Explosion - Hanley - 1881 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Coal Mines Regulation Act: Lilly Dale Colliery (Staffordshire) — Hansard
4. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Lillydale, 3 May 1881 — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) Lillydale: Brick-kiln seam abandonment plan, 1922 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority

Record created: 3 October 2026 · Last researched: 3 October 2026