BENSTONE, Johnstone, Fife, 23th. October, 1860.

The colliery was the property of Ludovic Houston and the greater part of the workings were on Johnstone’s estate on which work had gone on for a very long time. The plans could be traced for only 60 years and they did not have information regarding the explorations which had been made in the coalfield.

The workings were known to border old workings that had been abandoned for years and that were known to be flooded. The Benstone pit was situated to the dip of these old pits and was 54 fathoms deep. At the time of the accident, two coal seams were being worked at the colliery. They lay near to each other, seldom above ten feet apart.

The workmen at the colliery had been anxious for some time and they dreaded “waste” water and the position of the greater part of the waste was known to the management of the pit. Mr. Alexander visited the colliery the previous July and examined the whole of the underground workings. He pointed out to the manager that only safe way to advance the workings was to make continuous boreholes in advance of the workings. It was his understanding that this had been done except in what was considered to be the most dangerous part of the pit.

The “waste” to the south of the workings was dreaded and proper precautions were taken but no one thought of driving the mine to the north. It was known that the Shaw’s Pit was connected to the No.8 pit and an exploring mine had been driven from Shaw’s Pit to the west but there were no plans to show the limits of the workings in this direction. According to the evidence of the workmen who had worked this colliery a long time ago, the exploring mine had been abandoned for 40 years. They were aware that it had been drive to the west and a former overman explained that its position was to the north of the Benstone Bridge. This traditional account of the workings to the north of the pit was assumed to be correct. The water is supposed to have entered the mine from Shaw’s Pit.

Those who died in the disaster were:

  • John McMillan aged 40 years, collier.
  • John Alison aged 20 a collier.
  • John Hendry aged 20 years, collier.
  • Robert Alexander aged 20 years, collier.
  • Alexander Stewart aged 14 years, collier.

It was several months before the bodies were recovered.

At the inquiry Mr. Alexander commented:

There was no seeming want of care in the manner in which the works to the south were conducted, where a “waste” containing water was known to exist and I have every reason to believe that if those connected with the management had anticipated “waste” so near to the north of the pit, that the usual precautions would have been adopted there also. However, I cannot forbear remarking that the workings from Shaw’s Pit were more recent than those from No.8 pit and that some of the late managers must have neglected to carry out the prudent arrangements of their predecessors.

The importance of mining plans has long since been demonstrated and the Mine Inspectors Act, which provides that proper plans shall be made and exhibited of all underground works, will in future, to a great extent, prevent the loss of life from such accidents but it is painful to reflect that there are several collieries throughout the mining districts situated similar to that which I have just described and there is no means now of correcting the errors of the past.

 

REFERENCES
The Colliery Guardian, 9th. February 1861. p.92.
The Mines Inspectors Report, 1860. Mr. Alexander

Information supplied by Ian Winstanley and the Coal Mining History Resource Centre.

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