Wellsway Pit Disaster

From what we have been able to find out, production began from the Wellsway pit in 1829. It was owned by the Countess of Waldegrave as were other mines in the area. The pit closed in 1920.

A noticeably significant historical event in Westfield was the day in November 1839, that 12 men and boys fell to their death at the Wellsway Pit.

The rope carrying them to the floor of the pit snapped. At the time, this was thought not to have been an accident, but the rope to have been ‘maliciously’ cut. The unthinkable was suspected for the rope, nearly new after six months of being worked with 37 hundredweight, had the appearance of being cut with a knife or chisel passed over the fibres. This was never proved and no one was ever brought to account over the accident.

The grave of these men is at St John’s in Midsomer Norton and is marked with a plaque stating “In this grave are deposited the remains of the twelve undermentioned sufferers all of whom were killed at Wellsway Coal Works on 5th November 1839, by the snapping of the rope as they were on the point of descending into the pit. The rope was generally thought to have been maliciously cut.”

Those who died were:

James Keevill, aged 41

Mark Keevill, aged 13

James Keevill Jr, aged 13

Richard Langford, aged 45

Farnham Langford, aged 15

Alfred Langford, aged 13

James Pearce, aged 17

William Summers, aged 24

William Adams, aged 20

Leonard Hooper Dowling, aged 13

Amos Dando, aged 12

John Barnett, aged 41.

The Parish Council has ordered a remembrance plaque to be placed on the coal truck planter by the Christmas tree at the top of Elm Tree Avenue.

There is a lot more information about mining in the area in Radstock Museum. Why not pay it a visit?