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Full Details

Surname
HARPUM
Forename
Charles
Day
16
Month
04
Year
1912
Age
52
Occupation
Quarryman
Mine/Quarry Name
Little Upnor Quarry
Mineral Worked
Loam
Owner
James Little
Location
Upnor
County
Kent
Details of Event
The total height of the face in this quarry is 51 feet. The upper 23 feet, consisting of surface soil, sand, and rotten rock is removed first, and the remaining 28 feet, which consists of stiff and hard loam is then undercut and "fallen" into the quarry. The undercutting usually extends to a height of 6 or 8 feet from the floor and to a varying depth, one of the men stating at the inquest, "We fall the lower 28 feet, picking it until we think it dangerous, and then stand back and work it down with a long spear. Deceased was picking out the belly and appeared to have undercut the mass to a depth of about 2 feet, and to have pricked into an irregular dry in the loam, when about 200 tons suddenly came away from the face without warning. He attempted to escape, but was thrown down and buried to a depth of about 3 feet. He was extricated in 25 minutes, but life was found to be extinct. He had worked here intermittently for 21 years. The method of working appeared to be to be highly dangerous, and I recommended the owner to alter it. It appeared, however, that they had practised it for 40 years, and that this was the first fatal accident which had occurred at the quarry.