Swaithe Main Colliery

Overview

A colliery at Swaithe, near Worsbrough south-east of Barnsley, worked from 1861 to 1894 by the owners of the neighbouring Edmunds Main, to which it was connected underground. An explosion on 6 December 1875 killed 143 men and boys.

History

Swaithe Main lay between Barnsley and Sheffield in the Worsbrough district, and was owned with the adjoining Edmunds Main Colliery by Messrs. Mitchell and Co.; the Durham Mining Museum records the owners as the Edmunds and Swaithe Coal Company and the colliery as working from 1861 to 1894. Its drawing shaft, also the downcast, was 13 feet 6 inches across, and a furnace at the foot of the upcast, 225 yards deep and 68 yards away, ventilated the pit. The coal was nearly nine feet thick. An inclined plane connected the workings with Edmunds Main.

Some 300 men and boys were employed. On Monday 6 December 1875, with 240 underground, a shot fired in a working place set off an explosion that killed 143, the worst in the district since the Oaks in 1866. Seventy to eighty men escaped up the Edmunds Main shaft. Gas had been reported in the pit daily for six weeks beforehand. A working men's club in Worsbrough still carries the colliery's name.

Geology

Coal Measures of the Barnsley district; the seam worked was nearly nine feet thick.

Workings

A drawing and downcast shaft 13 feet 6 inches in diameter and a furnace upcast 12 feet 9 inches in diameter and 225 yards deep, 68 yards apart; an inclined plane connected the workings with Edmunds Main.

Closure

Closed in 1894.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Swaithe Main Colliery explosion, 1875
  6 December 1875 · Explosion · 143 fatalities
  At about 9.40 a.m. on 6 December 1875 firedamp exploded in the Barnsley seam at Swaithe Main Colliery, near Barnsley, killing 143 men and boys. Seventy to eighty escaped through the connected Edmunds Main shaft. The jury could not say how the gas was fired but found the rules had not been kept and gunpowder recklessly used.

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 drawing shaft was 230 yards deep. (disputed) ³
• The downcast and drawing shaft was sunk to 320 yards. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• Swaithe Main opened in 1861 and closed in 1894. ¹
• It was owned with the adjoining Edmunds Main by Messrs. Mitchell and Co., and connected to it by an inclined plane. ^2,3
• The drawing shaft was 230 yards deep. (disputed) ³
• The downcast and drawing shaft was sunk to 320 yards. (disputed) ²
• An explosion on 6 December 1875 killed 143 of the 240 men and boys underground. ^2,1,4
• Swaithe Main was one of the collieries of the Worsbrough district. ⁵

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (primary) Swaithe Main Colliery — Durham Mining Museum
2. (secondary) Swaithe Main Colliery Explosion - Barnsley - 1875 — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Swaithe Main Disaster Report (Mines Inspectors Report for 1875) — Durham Mining Museum
4. (secondary) Swaithe Main Colliery disaster — Wikipedia
5. (secondary) Worsbrough — Wikipedia

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