BUNKERS HILL. Bilston, Staffordshire. 16th. June, 1852.

The colliery was the property of Messrs. Formstone, Thompson and Dummock and did not work over the weekend. On Sunday the men who looked after the horses went down to the pit to feed them and left an air door open. This prevented the ventilation reaching the workings and there was an accumulation of gas.

On Monday morning the first men went in the ironstone mine. A handful went down first, about ten in all. The second skip was descending when an explosion took place with such force that they were blown out of the skip and fell to the bottom of the shaft. The engine was immediately reversed when it was found that one of the lads was entangled in the tackling and was hanging head down. He was rescued and preparations made to go below ground.

The noise do the explosion had been heard in the surrounding area and an anxious crowd gathered at the pit bank. There were many volunteers offering their services to go below and they were not deterred by the sulphurous smoke that was coming up the shaft. The rescuers waited a quarter of an hour to allow the fumes to disperse and a party of four went down the pit but when they got to within a few yards of the bottom they were compelled to return because of the bad atmosphere.

The men who were in the pit when the explosion took place were able to crawl to the shaft where they lay waiting for help. Their awful groans and screams of agony could be heard by those on the surface and another descent was made and the men at the bottom of the shaft were found. There were twenty-two of them and they were brought safely top the surface. One was found to be dead and four others died almost immediately and many others were burnt in a terrible manner.

Naked candles were used throughout the pit. There were also five horses in the pit, four were killed in the blast and one which was brought up alive died later from its injuries.

Those who died were:

  • Samuel Bowen aged 13 years,
  • James Priest aged 14 years,
  • Richard Ellis aged 38 years,
  • John Lane,
  • Enoch Yates aged 19 years.

The inquest on three of the victims was held at the Royal Oak Inn, Portobello. William Wright, a miner employed at the pit said that Isaiah Hill was the ground bailiff and on the morning of the accident he was standing on the pit bank when he heard the explosion. He went straight to the pit bank and found two butties, William Taylor and William Rhodes crying and very distressed. There were screams coming up the shaft and he volunteered to go down with three others. On the second attempt, it was totally dark at the shaft bottom and they managed to get three men into the skip. Isaac Nook was the only who could speak when brought up. They went down again and found Bowen whose clothes were on fire. Priest was dead and was brought up. Ellis was terribly burned and was taken home but died a little later.

Samuel Hazelwood, a sinker said that he had been down the pit and thought that there had been an explosion of gunpowder. Bowen had his skull half blown off. There had been five men and seventeen boys in the pit and he had examined every part of it that morning after the disaster. He found “Little Tommy Stevens” who asked him not to hurt him but to take him home.

The inquest came to the conclusion that the disaster was caused by a gas explosion ignited by a naked light.

 

REFERENCES
The Mines Inspectors Report, 1852.
The Illustrated London News, 19th June 1852, p.471.
The Staffordshire Advertiser.

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

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