One hundred and fifty years after one of the worst mining accidents in England, a monument in Northumberland bears testament to the victims. Inscribed on the obelisk in Earsdon churchyard are the names of the 204 men and boys who died in the Hartley Colliery disaster on 16 January 1862. Read more
The Hartley Colliery Disaster was a major Mining accident or disaster in Northumberland, England in 1862. The accident happened on 16 January 1862 when the huge beam used to de-water the mine suddenly broke, and one end plunged into the shaft of the pit. When the broken half of the beam fell, it demolished the brattice, and created a pile of debris towards the base of the shaft. It entombed 204 men and boys, who could not be rescued, and so suffocated and died. The tragedy led to a direct change in the law to demand that all collieries be worked by two shafts.