Huskar Colliery
Huskar Colliery was a coal mine in the South Yorkshire Coalfield, sunk to work the Silkstone seam. It was located in Nabs Wood, outside the village of Silkstone, in the then West Riding of Yorkshire. Huskar was the scene of a notorious pit disaster in 1838.
Huskar pit disaster
In 1838 Huskar was connected to Moorend Colliery, and used for ventilation purposes; it had a verttical shaft to the surface and a drift shaft leading to Nabbs Wood. On 4 July 1838 heavy rainfall struck the area, disabling the engine on the vertical shaft and flooding the drift shaft. A number of children, boys and girls between the ages of 7 and 17 working there were trapped and 26 were drowned. The disaster shocked public opinion and the resulting enquiry led to the 1842 Mines Act which sought to introduce some protection for child miners.[1]
There are memorials to those who died in Silkstone churchyard,[2] and at the mine site in Nabs Wood.[3]
References
External links
- List of those who died Healey, p1
- Huskar Colliery Disaster (pdf) cmhrc.co.uk p67-70
Coordinates: 53°31′47.0″N 1°33′28.1″W / 53.529722°N 1.557806°W