Louisa Colliery

Overview

A South Moor colliery near Stanley in north-west Durham, worked by the South Moor company and nationalised in 1947, where a match struck to light a cigarette ignited firedamp in August 1947 and killed men including the only two Bevin Boys to die in the pits.

History

Louisa Colliery at South Moor, near Stanley, is recorded as opened in 1759. It was owned by Hedley and Bell in the 1880s, by the South Moor Coal Company in the 1890s and by Holmside and Southmoor Collieries in the 1940s, and employed 525 people in 1894. It worked the middle series of Durham seams — the Maudlin, Low Main and Hutton — while the Shield Row, Five Quarter and Main Coal above were worked from Hedley Colliery, sharing the Charley Fan upcast shaft, and the lower seams from Morrison Busty. Three downcast shafts served it, the Louisa, William and Morrison North. A fire caused by an acetylene lamp in the Low Main seam in 1929 forced the sealing of about 100 acres of pillared workings, and open lights were used in the Low Main and Hutton seams until 1941.

Nationalisation on 1 January 1947 brought many changes of officials, and the manager had been in post only three weeks when, at 11.55 p.m. on Friday 22 August 1947, an explosion swept the 4th North District of the Hutton seam, about 450 feet down (see Disasters, below). Twenty-four men were in the district; nineteen were found dead and two of five brought out alive died later. The Deputy Chief Inspector, R. Yates, concluded that firedamp from the strata below had been ignited by a match struck to light a cigarette, and that coal dust on the conveyor roads carried the explosion through the district. Among the dead were Gerald Moore and Francis Eric Martin, Bevin Boys conscripted to the mines. In 1947 the colliery employed 1,919 people; it closed in 1964.

Geology

The Maudlin, Low Main and Hutton seams of the Durham coalfield, bounded to the west by their outcrop in the Lanchester district; the Hutton averaged 2½ feet with a strong shale roof and yielded a high-quality gas coal. Firedamp could be emitted from the strata below as the lower seams were worked.

Workings

Three downcast shafts, Louisa, William and Morrison North, with all coal wound at Louisa; ventilated through the Charley Fan shaft, shared with Hedley Colliery, by an electric Sirocco fan. In 1947 the Hutton seam was worked by longwall conveyor faces with air picks, and 1,480 people worked underground.

Closure

Closed in 1964, when 345 people were employed.

Related mines

• Craghead Colliery — Both owned by Holmside and Southmoor Collieries Ltd in the 1940s.
• Hedley Colliery — South Moor pits sharing the Charley Fan upcast shaft: Hedley worked the upper seams, Louisa the middle series.

Disasters & major incidents

• Louisa Colliery explosion, 1947
  22 August 1947 · Explosion · 22 fatalities
  Louisa Colliery at South Moor, near Stanley, was eight months into public ownership when it exploded on 22 August 1947, killing twenty-two men. The district where it happened, the 4th North in the Hutton seam, had been sterilised for years by a fire in the seam above and had only been made workable again in 1944 when new seals were built nearer the old fire; the inspector's report notes that no inflammable gas had ever been recorded in the seam before.

What's uncertain

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

• DMM gives 22 lives lost; NMRS says nineteen were found dead and two of the five rescued died later, and names 21. (disputed) ^1,2
• Gerald Moore and Francis Eric Martin, killed in 1947, are said to be the only Bevin Boys who lost their lives while working in the pits. (uncertain) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Louisa worked the Maudlin, Low Main and Hutton seams at South Moor, owned by Hedley and Bell (1880s), the South Moor Coal Company (1890s) and Holmside and Southmoor Collieries (1940s). ^1,2
• In 1947 Louisa had three downcast shafts, Louisa, William and Morrison North, and employed 1,480 underground and 350 on the surface for about 1,450 tons a day. ^1,2
• A fire in the Low Main seam in 1929, caused by an acetylene lamp, led to the sealing of about 100 acres; safety lamps were brought into the Louisa Old and William sections in 1941. ^3,2
• At 11.55 p.m. on 22 August 1947 an explosion in the 4th North District of the Hutton seam was ignited, the inspector concluded, by a match struck to light a cigarette, and propagated by coal dust. ^1,4,2
• DMM gives 22 lives lost; NMRS says nineteen were found dead and two of the five rescued died later, and names 21. (disputed) ^1,2
• Gerald Moore and Francis Eric Martin, killed in 1947, are said to be the only Bevin Boys who lost their lives while working in the pits. (uncertain) ²

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Louisa Colliery (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Louisa Colliery Explosion – Stanley – 1947 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Louisa Colliery Disaster Report (1947) (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) Explosion at Louisa Colliery, Co. Durham (Colliery Engineering) (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 17 September 2026 · Last researched: 17 September 2026