Withymoor Colliery

Overview

A colliery near Rowley Regis worked by Edwin and Joseph Nock where, on 16 November 1864, a winding chain snapped and a skip carrying eight men and boys fell 70 yards; the pulley frame had been leaning as an underground fire made the ground sink.

History

Withymoor, or Withymore, Colliery, near Rowley Regis in the South Staffordshire coalfield, was worked in 1864 by Edwin and Joseph Nock, Edwin Nock taking the general management. Men and boys rode its shafts in skips wound by chain on a drum.

An underground fire a few feet below the surface had for about a year been making the ground under the pit-frame sink, more on one side than the other, and the frame carrying the pulley had been adjusted by raising its sunken leg. Work stopped for some weeks during a strike, the subsidence went on, and by November 1864 the frame leaned about fifteen inches out of true. At a quarter past six on the evening of 16 November, as a skip with eight men and boys was being raised, the chain caught on a horn of the drum, fell onto the square drum shaft and snapped; the skip fell about 70 yards and some 90 yards of chain came down on top of it, killing all eight. Tested afterwards, the chain bore 19 tons 3 cwt. Three inquests were held, one before the Worcestershire coroner and two before a Staffordshire coroner; each jury returned manslaughter against different people, the last expressly clearing those committed by the juries before it.

Geology

South Staffordshire coal measures; the seam is not named; an underground fire burned a few feet below the surface.

Geological setting: Sedimentary Beds and Seams (historical documentary reference)

Workings

Shafts wound by chain on a drum, with men riding in skips; the pulley frame stood on ground subsiding over an underground fire.

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 1864 Withymoor Colliery was worked by Edwin and Joseph Nock. ^1,2
• On 16 November 1864 a winding chain snapped and a skip with eight men and boys fell about 70 yards, killing all of them. ^1,2
• The pulley frame leaned about fifteen inches out of true because an underground fire had made the ground subside. ^1,2
• Three inquest juries each returned manslaughter against different people. ^1,2

Sources

1. (secondary) Withymore Colliery Shaft Accident, Rowley Regis, 1864 (NMRS accidents and disasters) — Northern Mine Research Society
2. (primary) Colliery disaster, 16 November 1864: Withymore (Durham Mining Museum) — Durham Mining Museum

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