The Landshipping Disaster

Three of the boys who were nearest to the mouth of the pit, were alarmed by hearing a violent rushing of water in the interior of the works; they instantly ran to the pit’s- mouth, and were only just in time to save their lives, by climbing up the sides of the pit, before the water filled the level—had they been a moment later, the water would have overwhelmed them, as it did all their unfortunate companions who were in the interior. It was immediately afterwards found that a portion of the ground underneath the mud on the side of the river, a little above low water mark, and directly over the level, had given way, and the tide, which was then flowing, was observed to rush with great force towards the fissure, so as to drown the works, and render the escape of the hapless colliers utterly hopeless. Tidings of the sad calamity were quickly conveyed to the village where the workmen had resided, and as soon as the nature and extent of it were ascertained, a scene of the most heart-rending kind was exhibited among the surviving wives, mothers, and other relatives of the unfortunate workmen, which is far easier to imagine than to describe. Immediately after the boys had come above ground, the landing tub was lowered to assist any one who might be at the bottom of the pit, but when it was pulled up it was found to contain nothing but water. Some short time afterwards the steward of the works went down but he could not discover anything but pieces of timber floating on the surface.

[The late Fatal Accident at Landshipping Colliery—Forty Lives Lost. MILFORD, Feb. 21st.—From particulars ascertained, in addition to those given in our last, it seems that about half-past three or four o’clock in the afternoon of Wednesday, when there were 58 persons at work below in a large pit called the garden pit, the works of which extend to a considerable distance under the river, the parties at the mouth of the pit became aware that some accident had occurred by a powerful current of air making up the pit, so strong, to use the language of one of the bystanders, as to bear up a hand held unresistingly over it, and at the same instant, the water at a little distance from the shore became much agitated, eddies being visible to a considerable extent: shortly afterwards several persons rushed out into the shaft of the pit shrieking wildly for help; the man at the whim immediately put the horses to the gallop, and succeeded in rescuing four men and fourteen boys, when the water rushed with such force towards the mouth of the pit, as to render further exertions unavailing. One of the survivors states that he and another man were alarmed by a rushing wind stronger than any storm he had ever heard, which completely carried them off their legs, and at the same time extinguished the lights; thinking it was occasioned by the explosion of fire-damp, he called to his companions to stand still, but having discovered his mistake he at once saw that their only chance of escape was by flying to the mouth of the pit. In their way thither his companion appears to have lost his footing, as he heard him exclaim, “Oh, Lord! have mercy on my soul.” He himself was overtaken by the water, which almost prevented his progress, dashing him several times against the sides of the pit. When he got into the light, he rushed past another man, sprang into the bucket, and was taken up; the water following him so closely, that the next and last man was only saved by climbing up the side of the pit till the descending bucket reached him. The water appears to have broken in at a comparatively short distance from the shore, and pouring down in a body, at once cut off all chance of escape from 33 persons who were at work farther in; the remaining seven, who were nearer out, must have been overtaken in their attempt to escape. A violent explosion took place the following day, occasioned by the pressure of the water on the air confined in the recesses of the pit; large pieces of timber being thrown up to a considerable height. The following are a few of the distressing bereavements occasioned by this melancholy occurrence.—One man and three of his sons were drowned, leaving a widow and five children; another man and his son, also leaving a widow and five children. Five other men have left widows and eighteen children; the remainder were unmarried men and boys.]

"A sermon was preached at St. Mary's on the 3rd instant by the rector, in behalf of the widows and orphans of the unfortunate colliers drowned in the coal works at Landshipping, and contributions have since been collected throughout the town to the amount of £45 16s [16s shillings]. This speaks well for the liberal and charitable spirit of our inhabitants. "

"The Garden pit colliery, very close to the quay, was quite famous locally; but in 1844 it hit the national headlines. Water from the river broke into the workings, and more than forty men and boys were drowned. The mine was closed and the community never recovered. Many families emigrated, and by 1867 all the other collieries in the area had also closed. “

"In a quiet little cottage home at Landshipping, live three elderly sisters, Elizabeth, Martha, and Mary Butler, of whom Elizabeth is one of the very few women now living who once worked in a colliery. She was employed at the ‘Garden Pit,’ at Landshipping, for several years at the noble sum of 4d. a day, the man's wages at the time being 1s. a day. They lost two of their brothers in the flooding of the Garden Pit, a catastrophe which occurred a few days after the passing of Lord Davey's Act rescued Elizabeth Butler from working in the colliery. “