Malago Vale Colliery

Overview

A deep colliery at Bedminster in south Bristol, with the Malago and Argus shafts of 500 and 580 yards, worked from the 1840s by Reynolds and later the Bristol Collieries Company; firedamp explosions killed ten men in 1891 and two in 1895.

History

Malago Vale Colliery lay at Bedminster, south of the centre of Bristol, on West Street. Its Malago and Argus shafts were opened in the 1840s. S. Reynolds and Company worked it in 1852, when the cog of the winding engine's fly-wheel broke and a new rope parted, dashing a cart of coal down the shaft; the 33 men and boys below escaped unhurt, but some sixty were put out of work while it was repaired. On 9 August 1851 five men had died when a rope broke. Later owners included Stuckey's bankers, the Malago Vale Company and the Bristol Collieries Company.

By 1891 the two shafts, 66 yards apart, were 500 yards deep (the Malago or Old Pit, the downcast) and 580 yards (the Argus or New Pit, the furnace upcast), and from their bottoms long haulage roads, the Dukeways, ran down the dip to depths of about 3,000 feet. Ventilation came from a furnace and the steam of the haulage engine. 224 men worked the day shift in the Top Vein and the Bedminster Great Vein, and Ralph Hope had managed the pit since 1873. Naked lights were in general use, and the manager, officials and men had resisted safety lamps.

On the night shift of 30-31 August 1891, with only 28 men below, firedamp released by a fall of roof in the Argus workings fired at a naked light, killing ten. Another explosion, from a shot fired in gassy ground, killed an examiner and his boy on 15 March 1895. The shafts closed in 1898. The manager's house on Argus Road and Rock Cottage, the managing director's house on West Street, still stand.

Geology

The Top Vein and the Bedminster Great Vein of the Bristol coalfield; the Great Vein gave off firedamp, especially in disturbed coal under a weighted roof.

Workings

Two shafts 66 yards apart, the Malago (500 yards) and the Argus (580 yards), with dip haulage roads, the Dukeways, to about 3,000 feet; furnace ventilation.

Closure

The shafts closed in 1898.

What remains

The colliery site has been built over; the manager's house on Argus Road survives.

The mine manager's house on Argus Road and Rock Cottage on West Street.

Related mines

• Dean Lane Colliery — Shared plan: the BGS plans of the Great and Top Veins cover Malago Vale and Dean Lane together.

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 NMRS account names nine dead in the 1891 explosion. (disputed) ¹

Recorded claims

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

• Malago Vale's two shafts were the Malago, 500 yards deep, and the Argus, 580 yards, 66 yards apart. ¹
• The Malago and Argus shafts on West Street were opened in the 1840s and closed in 1898. ²
• In 1852 the winding engine of Reynolds and Co.'s Malago Vale colliery broke and a cart of coal fell down the shaft; the 33 below escaped unhurt. ³
• On 31 August 1891 firedamp fired at a naked light at Malago Vale and killed ten men and boys. ^4,1
• The NMRS account names nine dead in the 1891 explosion. (disputed) ¹
• BGS plans of the Great and Top Veins cover Malago Vale and Dean Lane together. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Malago Vale Colliery Explosion, Bristol, 1891 (NMRS) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Coal under West Street (Gathering Voices, West Street Heritage Group) — Gathering Voices
3. (secondary) Malago Vale Coal Pit (Grace's Guide) — Grace's Guide
4. (primary) Malago Vale Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
5. (primary) BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plan 21845229: Malago Vale and Dean Lane, Great Vein — British Geological Survey

Record created: 23 October 2026 · Last researched: 23 October 2026