Victoria Colliery, Stanley

Overview

Robert Hudson and Co.'s colliery at Stanley, near Wakefield, whose old Silkstone or 'Deep Drop' pit, first sunk in 1840 to the Haigh Moor and later deepened to 475 yards, exploded in March 1879 (see Disasters, below).

History

Robert Hudson and Company worked three collieries in a line half a mile apart near Stanley Lane End: the Victoria Colliery on the Leeds Road side, working the Haigh Moor; the 'Deep Drop' or Silkstone Pit; and a new pit at Stanley Ferry on the Stanley Main. The Northern Mine Research Society records the Deep Drop as the Silkstone Pit of Victoria Colliery. First sunk in 1840 to the Haigh Moor at 270 yards, it was among the oldest pits in the district; when that seam was worked out the shaft was sunk a further 200 yards to the Silkstone, and its two shafts, 11 feet across, were 475 yards deep. It was thought fiery, so lamps were enforced and blasting forbidden. The firm employed 700 to 800, under the certificated manager J. O. Greaves.

An explosion in the Silkstone Pit on 4 March 1879 killed twenty-one (see Disasters, below). Abandonment plans for Victoria, Stanley, record the Haigh Moor given up in 1863 and 1882, the Stanley Main in 1896 and 1908, and the Black Bed in 1922.

Geology

West Yorkshire Coal Measures: the Haigh Moor at about 270 yards, the Silkstone at 475 yards, with the Stanley Main and Black Bed.

Workings

The Deep Drop's two 11-foot shafts, 475 yards deep, furnace-ventilated through a 50-yard drift; safety lamps only.

Closure

Abandonment plans for Victoria, Stanley, run to 1922 (Black Bed); the separate pits' dates are not recorded.

What remains

Unknown.

Redevelopment

Unknown.

Disasters & major incidents

• Victoria Colliery 'Deep Drop' explosion, 1879
  4 March 1879 · Explosion · 21 fatalities
  Soon after ten on the night of 4 March 1879 firedamp exploded in the west bord of the Silkstone or 'Deep Drop' pit, 475 yards deep, at Robert Hudson and Co.'s Victoria Colliery, Stanley, near Wakefield. Twenty-one died; the jury found the gas fired at a naked light.

What's uncertain

Points where sources disagree or the record could not be settled; both accounts are kept. All open questions in the archive.

• Twenty lives were lost. (disputed) ²

Recorded claims

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

• The Silkstone Pit was first sunk in 1840 to the Haigh Moor and later deepened to the Silkstone; its two shafts were 11 feet across and 475 yards deep. ^1,2
• Hudson's firm worked the Victoria Colliery (Haigh Moor), the Deep Drop (Silkstone) and a new Stanley Ferry pit, half a mile apart. ²
• On 4 March 1879 an explosion in the Silkstone Pit killed twenty-one. ^1,3
• Twenty lives were lost. (disputed) ²
• Abandonment plans for Victoria, Stanley, run from the Haigh Moor in 1863 to the Black Bed in 1922. ^4,5

Photographs & further reading

Sources

1. (secondary) Victoria Colliery Stanley Pit Explosion - Wakefield - 1879 — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (secondary) Explosion at Stanley Colliery (Deep Drop) — Outwood Community Video
3. (primary) Colliery Disaster: Stanley Pit, 4 March 1879 — Durham Mining Museum
4. (primary) BGS mine plan: Victoria Stanley, Haigh Moor, abandoned 1863 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans
5. (primary) BGS mine plan: Victoria Stanley, Black Bed, abandoned 1922 — BGS / Mining Remediation Authority mine plans

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026