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Description: | A sandstone memorial decorated at the entablature with egg and dart and rope moulding, surmounted by an obelisk. The names of 204 men who died in the disaster are inscribed on raised round-topped panels on each face of the pedestal. It is protected by iron railings and stands in St Alban's churchyard in a wooded spot 50 metres north east of the church. Additional Information: 204 men and boys lost their lives in the North East's most fatal pit disaster at Hartley Colliery on 16th January 1862. The engine beam at the Hester Pit snapped and fell into the shaft bringing with it a huge amount of debris. Because the pit was single-shaft and had no alternative exit a large number of miners were trapped underground. After several days rescuers thought they heard 'jowling' (the noise entombed miners make when they try to show that they are still alive) but later they realised they were mistaken. When eventually, on 23rd January, bodies were found it was clear that most of the victims had died from the effects of poisonous gases released by the original collapse of the beam. The disaster attracted huge public interest. 20,000 sightseers joined the families waiting at the surface for news in the first days after the accident. 60,000, it is said, took part in the funeral procession to Earsdon Churchyard on 26th January. When money was collected for the 407 widows and dependents of the victims, £82,000 was amassed, a sum so great that it was possible to send £20,000 for distribution in other coalfields. The 'fatal catastrophe' had one beneficial outcome: legislation obliging owners to sink two shafts side by side was rushed through Parliament by the end of the year.(1) | Subjects: | Other | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Designer: Not known | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=7511... | Go to resource |
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Mug
On 16 January 1862, 204…
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