Barnsley Oaks Drawing acquired by the Trust for the Barnsley Museums Collection

A colourised drawing depicting England’s worst ever mining disaster has been purchased by the Trust on behalf of Barnsley Archives and Local Studies.  

The Oaks disaster happened between the 12^th and 13^th December 1866. A series of explosions caused by firedamp ripped through the underground workings of the Oaks Colliery at Hoyle Mill near Stairfoot in Barnsley killing at least 361 miners and rescuers.  

It was the worst mining disaster in the whole of the United Kingdom until the 1913 Senghenydd explosion in Wales.  

The 150^th anniversary of the explosion was marked by Barnsley Museums in 2016 thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant which paid for new research to be undertaken, plus a film and an exhibition.  

Barnsley Archives hold the original 1866 register of deaths, as well as numerous other original documents relating to the disaster. This unique drawing is a wonderful addition to the archive collections, and it will hopefully be displayed in the museum gallery in the future once any necessary research and conservation has been carried out.