Description
The colliery was situated in Felling, Tyne and Wear, part of Gateshead, in what used to be County Durham, and had two shafts about 600 feet deep. It was extended in 1810 by the opening up of a new coal seam, the Low Main seam, and it was here that the explosion which engulfed the pit occurred. The accident was caused by ignition of firedamp, methane, which triggered a coal dust explosion. The explosion travelled through the galleries, and erupted from one of the shafts.
At that time, lighting in the pits was hazardous. Open flame lamps could easily ignite the gas, so steel mills were often used to provide weak illumination from sparks, but these too could set off a gas explosion. The alternative was to deliberately destroy gas accumulations in a dangerous operation conducted by a "monk", actually a miner shrouded in a wet blanket who poked a candle on a long pole into gas pockets.
Read more about this topic: Felling Mine Disaster
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