Townhouse Colliery

Overview

A colliery of Spencer Wilson and Company at Great Marsden, near Burnley, where firedamp killed six in 1850 when a man took the top off his safety lamp, and five more in 1856 when a newcomer fired his own shot into gas.

History

Townhouse, or Town House, Colliery was worked by Spencer Wilson and Company at Great Marsden, in the Burnley coalfield of north-east Lancashire. It was a gassy pit, worked with safety lamps.

On 12 April 1850 one of six men, Thomas Steer, left the others at the shaft bottom and went into the workings with his lamp to see whether it was safe. The others followed without waiting for his signal, and one of them, Joseph Brunton, took the top off his lamp; the gas fired and all six were killed, among them Joseph Brunton and his brother William. The company's agent, Mr Sayer, said that the men had broken the rules and that anyone who took the top off a lamp in future would be dismissed at once.

By 1856 the pit was worked with locked lamps, but blasting with gunpowder was allowed under the close supervision of an underlooker or fireman. On 13 November 1856 a man new to the pit, who had not been given the special rules, fired his own shot with a 'german', a squib filled with powder; it jumped into the goaf and fired firedamp that had gathered there after a fall of roof. Ten men were burned, and five died at home over the following weeks.

Geology

Burnley coalfield (Lancashire coal measures); the seam is not named; the goaf gathered firedamp after falls of roof.

Workings

A shaft with workings and goaf, lit by safety lamps, locked by 1856, with shot-firing under supervision.

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.

• Townhouse Colliery at Great Marsden was worked by Spencer Wilson and Company. ^1,2
• On 12 April 1850 an explosion killed six men after one of them took the top off his safety lamp. ^1,3
• On 13 November 1856 a newcomer's squib fired gas in the goaf; ten men were burned and five died. ²
• By 1856 the colliery was worked with locked lamps, with blasting allowed only under supervision. ²

Sources

1. (secondary) Town House Colliery Explosion, Burnley, 1850 (NMRS accidents and disasters) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Townhouse Colliery Explosion, Burnley, 1856 (NMRS accidents and disasters) — Northern Mine Research Society
3. (primary) Colliery disaster, April 1850: Town House Mine (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum

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