Wellsway (sometimes spelt Wells Way) Colliery was located in Westfield between Midsomer Norton and Radstock. It opened in around 1833 and was owned by Frances, Dowager Countess Waldegrave. At 4am on the morning of 8th November 1839, twelve men and boys were about to descend into the mine in a hudge (a wooden crate). The rope holding the hudge suddenly snapped and it fell 756 feet to the bottom of the mine shaft. All 12 men were killed.
The rope was only 6 months old and it was suspected at the time that it had been cut deliberately. However the person responsible for cutting it was never found. It is also possible that the mine's managers started the rumour about the rope having been deliberately cut in order to avoid the possibility of being prosecuted for manslaughter due to negligence.
The twelve victims were buried together in a mass grave at St John's Church in Midsomer Norton. 4,000 people attended the funeral. The masters of the coal works paid for a memorial stone. The memorial stone was renewed in 1965 and a further headstone was added in 2000. Most of the victims lived in Midsomer Norton. Leonard Hooper Dowling and Amos Dando lived in Welton and John Barnett lived in Radstock.
The inscription the 1965 memorial stone is as follows:
In this grave are deposited the remains of the twelve under-mentioned sufferers, all of which were killed at Wells Way Coal works on 8th November 1839 by snapping of the rope as they were on the point of descending into the pit. The rope was believed to have been maliciously cut.
Thus saith the Lord, set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, not live. Isa XXXVIII Verse 1
This stone was erected at the expense of the masters of the coal works at which the lamentable event occurred.
The original stone was renewed in the summer of 1965 by the Somerset miners.
The wording on the 2000 memorial stone is as follows:
This stone was erected as a memorial to the twelve men and boys who lost their lives in the Wells Way Colliery Disaster of the 8th November 1839. Also to remember all those who lost their lives in the Somerset Coalfield.
This stone was provided by the Somerset Miners Welfare Trust 1st January 2000.
Wellsway Colliery closed in 1920. A winding engine house, stables for the pit ponies, spoil heaps and a weighbridge are still visible today.
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