Victoria Colliery, Bruntcliffe

Overview

J. Haigh and Sons' colliery at Bruntcliffe, Morley, working the Middleton Main seam at 180 yards from about 1850. An explosion in 1882 killed seven, and in 1893 striking miners rioted at the pit.

History

J. Haigh and Sons worked three pits at Bruntcliffe, the Middleton Main, the Little Pit and the Stone Coal Pit, with Michael Harle as manager. The Middleton Main pit, 180 yards deep, had been worked for about thirty years by 1882 without a death from explosion. Its seam was made of 2 feet 6 inches of top coal, bands of dirt and coal and 15 inches of bottom coal, and was worked by holing the thin middle coal, shooting the top coal and wedging the bottom. It worked day and night, with 70 to 80 on the day shift and about 35 at night.

Late on 1 May 1882 gas exploded in Stringer's Bord, a separate district three-quarters of a mile from the shaft, killing seven; a second explosion nearly caught the rescuers. During the miners' riots of 1893 a crowd marched on Victoria Colliery, believing coal was being moved, and broke every window of the manager's house.

Geology

West Yorkshire Coal Measures: the Middleton Main seam at 180 yards, 2 feet 6 inches of top coal over bands of dirt and coal and 15 inches of bottom coal.

Workings

Three pits, the Middleton Main, Little and Stone Coal pits; shots fired by heated wire through the lamp gauze; safety lamps in use by 1882.

Closure

Unknown.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Victoria Colliery explosion, Bruntcliffe, 1882
  1 May 1882 · Explosion · 7 fatalities
  Shortly before midnight on 1 May 1882 gas exploded in Stringer's Bord in the Middleton Main pit of J. Haigh and Sons' Victoria Colliery, Bruntcliffe, killing the deputy, five colliers and a boy. A second explosion at about 2 a.m. nearly caught the exploring party as they prepared to bring out the bodies.

Recorded claims

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

• The colliery belonged to J. Haigh and Sons, who worked the Middleton Main, Little and Stone Coal pits. ^1,2
• The Middleton Main pit was 180 yards deep and had been worked for about thirty years by 1882. ¹
• Explosions on the night of 1 May 1882 killed seven. ^1,2
• In 1893 striking miners marched on Victoria Colliery at Bruntcliffe, believing coal was being moved, and attacked the manager's house. ³

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Victoria Colliery Explosion - Bruntcliffe Leeds - 1882 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Victoria, Bruntcliffe, 1 May 1882 — Durham Mining Museum
3. (secondary) The Morley Miners' Riot of 1893 — On: Yorkshire Magazine

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