Ince Moss Pit Disaster

by Lolly Fri 03 Jul 2020, 8:59 am

A post by Mark Chapman Facebook

The monument in Wigan Cemetery commemorating the Ince Moss Pit disaster that took place at the Pearson & Knowles Co. Moss Pits, with an explosion on Wednesday 6th September 1871. The accident occurred in the Wigan 9ft seam, a mine that was known to be ‘fiery’ and hazardous. There were around one hundred and fifty men in the pit at the time, of which sixty-eight were working in this seam. An explosion was heard at the surface, followed by a thick column of smoke emerging from the upcast shaft. Although the cage for carrying the men was destroyed and the headgear damaged, a hoppet (a large iron bucket used to carry spoil) was intact in the shaft. This was used to bring up the miners who were not working the seam. and who were uninjured.
A rescue party consisting of trade union officials and colliery managers descended the shaft. When they reached the seam there were dead and injured colliers. The injured were brought up in the hoppet
There was a second smaller explosion, which threw the rescuers several metres down the workings. They were fortunately uninjured and managed to escape up the shaft. The sides of which had by now caught fire. A decision was made that no more men could be saved and shaft should be capped to prevent air from getting to the fire in the workings.
After several days an assumption was made that the fire was out and the workmen began to remove the clay from the shaft. Proprietor Thomas Knowles was looking into the shaft when there was a third explosion. The engineers at the top of the shaft were blown 12 metres into the railway. John Knowles, the son of the mine owner, received a broken leg. The hoppet was thrown up into the headgear. Four of the workers were fatally injured with one falling down the shaft.
There was a fourth explosion which damaged windows in a village four miles away. The Wigan horse-drawn fire engine arrived, but the hoses were not long enough to reach the headgear, which had collapsed in the last explosion, covering the opening of the shaft. Pumps were brought from other mines and it took a week to extinguish the fire.
It took about eight weeks to pump out all the water. The bodies of the miners were identified by their possessions.