Moorfield Colliery

Overview

One of the two Altham Collieries between Accrington and Clayton-le-Moors, sunk on the most up-to-date principles and in operation only two and a half years when an explosion on the morning of 7 November 1883 killed sixty-eight men and boys and seriously injured thirty-nine. The youngest of the dead was ten. The jury found the cause to be a sudden outburst of gas, but could not establish how it was ignited.

History

Moorfield was one of two pits owned and worked by Alderman Barlow for the Altham Colliery Company; the other, Whinney Hill, had been going twelve years. Moorfield itself had been in operation only two and a half years when the disaster came. It had been sunk to 293 yards to a seam between 24 and 26 inches thick — a low working even by the standards of the Lancashire coalfield — and laid out to modern practice, with one shaft serving two main drifts, one running east on an incline and one north on a decline. The main chain way was in the east section and ran about 180 yards, and coal was wound by double cages bringing eight tubs to the surface at once. The explosion came at ten minutes to nine on the morning of Wednesday 7 November 1883, with the shift underground. Sixty-eight men and boys were killed and thirty-nine seriously injured. The jury at the inquest concluded that the explosion was caused by a sudden outburst of gas, but found there was not sufficient evidence to show how it had been ignited.

Geology

The Lancashire coalfield. The seam Moorfield worked was between twenty-four and twenty-six inches thick at 293 yards — a thin working that had to pay by mechanised haulage rather than by the height of the coal. Gas was the hazard that mattered, and the inquest jury attributed the 1883 explosion to a sudden outburst of it.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (well documented example)

Workings

A single shaft 293 yards deep serving two main drifts, one driven east on an incline and one north on a decline. The main chain haulage way was in the east section and extended about 180 yards. Coal was wound in double cages carrying eight tubs at a time. The pit was described at the time as having been sunk on the most up-to-date principles.

Closure

No closure date has been established for Moorfield in the sources read; the colliery is remembered principally for the 1883 disaster.

What remains

A monument to the disaster stands at Altham, and the explosion remains the event by which the colliery is known locally.

Nearby mines

• Hapton Valley Colliery — 2.7 km E
• Bank Hall Colliery — 8.4 km E
• Towneley Colliery — 9.3 km E
• Hill Top Colliery — 13.6 km SE

Straight-line distance, within 15 km. Show on the map.

Recorded claims

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

• The explosion occurred at 8.50 a.m. on Wednesday 7 November 1883 and killed sixty-eight men and boys, seriously injuring thirty-nine; the youngest victim was ten years old. ¹
• Moorfield was one of two pits owned by Alderman Barlow for the Altham Colliery Company and had been in operation only two and a half years; it was sunk to 293 yards to a seam 24 to 26 inches thick, with one shaft serving two main drifts. ¹
• The inquest jury found the explosion was caused by a sudden outburst of gas, but that there was not sufficient evidence to show how it exploded. ¹

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Altham history: the Moorfield Colliery explosion — Altham Parish Council
2. (observational) Moorfield Colliery Memorial — Geograph Britain and Ireland

Record created: 9 September 2026 · Last researched: 9 September 2026