Some children were able to escape through an adjoining shaft and alerted others to what had happened. To help fulfil this dream I am holding dry stone walling courses to rebuild the walls which are in a dilapidated condition. One hundred and fifty years after the disaster, funds from the Silkstone Parish Council made available for the upkeep of the Old memorial to the children and a new memorial was dedicated at the site of the disaster. It reads-, “Take heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is.”. In the village of nearby Silkstone Common, black smoke rose from the engine powering the winch to the Huskar Pit where many of the local men, women and children worked at least 12 hour stints in the hot, damp and acrid coal seams which ran below the South Yorkshire village. We have had but one bad accident and that was on the 4th. July 1838. and Elizabeth Clarkson aged 11 years, who was buried at the feet of her brother. 4th July 1838 The Huskar Colliery was joined to the Moorend Colliery for the purposes of ventilation and the colliery was the property of Mr. R.C. Clarke of Noblethorpe. On that eventful day, the Lord sent forth his thunder, lightening, hail and rain, carrying devastation before them, and by a sudden eruption of water into the coal pits of R.C. They had then spent nine hours underground. Much of the woods are as they were 168 years ago – except that the dry stone walls which form the boundary to the woods are in a serious state of disrepair. They would head through the mine for the day hole, a drift entrance to the mine in Nabs Wood. James Garnett, the father of one of the children, was one who went in after the water had subsided and he found the body of his child. Over 300ft underground, around 50 children and 33 coal getters were cutting and moving coal, eager to make up time and money following four days unpaid holiday for Queen Victoria’s coronation celebration. This is also known as Online Behavioural Advertising. 4th. The youngest victim was seven-year-old James Burkinshaw, whose brother George also died. Twenty six children died at the Huskar Pit Disaster, June 1838. At their feet a stream of water flowed past them. The stream, which had never been known to overflow, passed close by a “drift”, a shaft being used for ventilation. July 1838 The Huskar Colliery was joined to the Moorend Colliery for the purposes of ventilation and was the colliery was the property of Mr. R.C. THE HUSKAR PIT DISASTER 1838 On the 4th July 1838, 26 children lost their lives when the Huskar Pit in Silkstone, near Barnsley in Yorkshire was flooded by an overflowing stream. Silkstone, Barnsley.

The mines became a major focus of the village and people from nearby villages also came to work there. The Huskar Colliery was joined to Moorend Colliery, for ventilation purposes it was owned by Mr. R.C. Les's dogs among the bluebells in Nabs Wood. In 1842 this enquiry led to the 1842 Factory Act which was the first piece of legislation relating to working conditions in Britain.

It could not be recovered until all the twenty six had been removed. The oldest was 17-year-old Hannah Taylor.

Entire families often worked together in the pits, to keep up with the increasing demand for coal. of rain fell in a short time, filling up a stream in a nearby wood that was normally a dry creek bed. Clarke of Noblethorpe. Queen Victoria took an interest in the disaster and the loss of so many young lives in a pit was a factor in the setting up of the Royal Commission to enquire into women and children working in coal mines. I had a dry stone wall around my garden and always wanted to know how to rebuild it as I knew it couldn't be a simple case of standing stone upon stone. About 6cm of rain fell in a short time, filling up a stream in a nearby wood that was normally a dry creek bed. I'm a dry stone waller with a quest to restore the walls surrounding Nabs Wood at Silkstone Common where 26 children were tragically killed in the Huskar Pit Disaster of 1838. The Woodland Trust and an owner of land adjacent to the woods have kindly promised stone for the repairs, but I can envisage that in future I'll have to start fundraising to buy stone for the repairs.


In 1830, local squire Robert Couldwell Clarke of Noblethorpe Hall opened up two new mines — the Huskar Pit and the Moor End Colliery. She recommended the holding of a commission into children and women working in coal mines. was a hot, sunny morning when the coal miners arrived at work at the Huskar Pit, Nabs Wood, near the village of Silkstone, South Yorkshire, England. On a bleak day in June 1838, Nabs Wood was about to be written into history books as a tragic chain of events unfolded. The inquest into the disaster was held at the Red Lion Inn, Silkstone By Mr. Badger of Sheffield, Coroner. The stream is very small and is dry nine months out of the twelve. Don't have an account? to 4 pm. Hailstones and about two to two & half inches of rain fell. Silkstone is a village with ancient origins. The Huskar Colliery was joined to the Moorend Colliery for the purposes of ventilation and was the colliery was the property of Mr. R.C. I am quite sure that the stream had never overflowed before. :: To find out how you can help with the rebuilding of Nabs Wood's dry stone walls, click on 'Hadrian's Dry Stone Walls' on the right of the page. “I am under ground steward to four of Mr. Clarke’s pits and I have the superintendence of above 90 colliers. Huskar Pit was a coal mine on the South Yorkshire Coalfield, sunk to work the Silkstone seam. The Huskar Pit disaster in Yorkshire in 1838 spurred the government on to do something about child labour Troy Lennon, History Editor, The Daily Telegraph July 4, 2018 12:00am IT was a hot, sunny morning when the coal miners arrived at work at the Huskar Pit, Nabs Wood, near the village of Silkstone, South Yorkshire, England. They were taken to Thostle Hall where George Teasdale and a man named Buckley washed their faces and then they were taken to their homes in carts. They went through doors in the passages, usually operated by the escaping children which provided ventilation to the mine. As the waters in the stream rose it threatened to inundate the shaft.