Hartley Colliery
In Hartley, Northumberland
See Wikipedia entry.
The colliery is notable for the terrible disaster in 1862, when more than 200 men and boys died, as a consequence of the fracture of the main engine beam. Half of the cast iron beam, weighing upwards of 20 tons, fell down the pit, killing five men who were then coming up, carrying the bratticing with it, and forming, with the debris accumulating in its progress, a deep and almost impenetrable mass far down the pit. Typically for that era, the shaft was the only means provided for access. It took several days of strenuous effort to access the mine, but no-one had survived, due to foul air and starvation.
On 7 August 1862, just 6 months after the inquest and less than 7 months from the disaster, an Act of Parliament (the Act to Amend the Law Relating to Coal Mines of 1862) was passed. This required all new mines to have two shafts and all existing mines to ensure access to a second shaft before the end of 1864; the maximum penalty was £10, but the prohibition was enforcable by injunction
The failed engine beam was cast by Losh, Wilson and Bell.