Shortheath Colliery

Overview

A Willenhall colliery of the Pelsall Coal and Iron Company where, on 12 November 1879, gas from old workings fired at a naked candle as men opened a heading in the Fireclay Coal, killing six, the head engineer and a chartermaster among them.

History

Shortheath Colliery, at Willenhall in the South Staffordshire coalfield, belonged in 1879 to the Pelsall Coal and Iron Company, with Michael Harle as its certificated manager; before them it had been worked by Boaz Bloomer and Son. It worked several seams from a shaft about 100 yards deep. There had been an explosion there some six years before 1879, after which the management was said to have worked the mine with great care.

At about one in the afternoon of 12 November 1879 men opening up the Fireclay Coal, in a heading driven only a few yards, under the head engineer John Slack, were caught by an explosion. The banksman, Edward Greenway, alone at the pit bank, was met by a rush of smoke up the shaft as he went to send down timber, heard a shout for help and ran 200 yards to another pit for men. The first party had to be drawn up again because of the fumes; cold water was poured down the shaft to freshen the air, and about an hour later rescuers reached the bottom and found six dead, among them Slack, the chartermaster Joseph Frost and the deputy Edward Grant. The gas was thought to have come from the old workings and was fired at a naked candle. At the inquiry, before the judge of the Birmingham County Court, Harle was charged with failing to provide adequate ventilation: he had relied on the gap between the scaffold and the brickwork of the shaft, but the air pipes did not pass under the scaffold. He was ordered to pay the costs, but was not found guilty of gross negligence and kept his certificate.

Geology

South Staffordshire coal measures: several seams, among them the Fireclay Coal being opened in 1879; gas lay in old workings.

Workings

A shaft about 100 yards deep with a scaffold, ventilated through the gap between scaffold and brickwork; a new heading in the Fireclay Coal; naked candles in use.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Recorded claims

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

• In 1879 Shortheath Colliery belonged to the Pelsall Coal and Iron Company. ^1,2
• Before the Pelsall company, Shortheath had been worked by Boaz Bloomer and Son. ¹
• An explosion on 12 November 1879 killed six men, among them the head engineer and a chartermaster. ^1,2
• The manager was ordered to pay the costs of the inquiry but was not found guilty of gross negligence. ¹

Sources

1. (secondary) Shortheath Colliery Explosion, Willenhall, 1879 (NMRS accidents and disasters) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery disaster, 12 November 1879: Shortheath (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 24 October 2026 · Last researched: 24 October 2026