A Leicestershire housebuilder has helped honour the memory of 35 miners who lost their lives in a coalmining accident more than a century ago.
The bodies of 12 of the men were never recovered following the Whitwick Mining Disaster, on April 19, 1898.
Some 42 men were working in Number 5 Pit at Whitwick Colliery, when an underground fire broke out, cutting off both their air and means of escape.
The pit was on the outskirts of the North West Leicestershire town of Coalville which one stood at the heart of the region’s thriving coalmining industry.
Only eight men were able to get out – but one of them, Charles Clamp, went back into the workings to help his fellow miners only to succumb to the smoke and die.
Over the following 10 months, 23 bodies were recovered, while 12 were never found.
A memorial remembering their deaths has been erected by the Whitwick Colliery Disaster Memorial Project – a partnership between David Wilson Homes, Hugglescote and Donington Le Heath Parish Council, Whitwick Parish Council, Leicestershire Coal Industry Welfare Trust Fund, Coalville Heritage Society, Whitwick Historical Group and the Snibston Heritage Trust.
A key feature of the memorial is a headstock pulley wheel from Whitwick Colliery given to the project by Leicestershire County Council’s museums service.
It stands in Percival Way off Grange Road in Hugglescote, over the area of mine workings where the disaster occurred.
Around 250 guests attended the ceremony and the ribbon was cut by UK and Hollywood movie and TV star Stephen Graham, who lives in the area.
He said: “I’ve lived around these parts for a long time and when I was asked to be involved, I didn’t hesitate. For me to be a part of this is an absolute honour and I think it’s a beautiful sculpture.
“The pride and sense of being a part of this community must resonate within all of you. It’s an honour to be adopted as one of you.”
David Wilson Homes, which is part of Barratt Developments, has its head office just outside Coalville, in an industrial area created to help regenerate the area when the mines closed in the 1980s.
Its East Midlands managing director John Reddington said: “It’s been an absolute honour working with our partners to make this memorial at our Grange View development possible.
“We’d like to thank everyone involved for their hard work and the recent unveiling event was a fantastic tribute to a major part of Leicestershire’s history.”
Stuart Warburton, chair of the project team said “I cannot thank David Wilson Homes enough for its help and assistance in the creation of this, the first purpose-built memorial to those men who gave their lives to power the industrial strength of the nation.
“There has been great care in the restoration of the Whitwick Colliery wheel and the design of the memorial which will include the planting of primroses, as the disaster happened on ‘Primrose Day’ a Victorian day of celebration, but sadly not for these miners.
“Their labours, sacrifice and memory shall not be forgotten.
“The partners have worked tirelessly as volunteers over the last 18 months and without their dedication and enthusiasm of this project would not have come to fruition.”
David Wilson Homes has named 19 streets in its Grange View development – where the monument stands – after the 19 families who were affected by the disaster.
Once the housing development has been completed, the long-term care and maintenance of the memorial will pass to Hugglescote and Donington Le Heath Parish Council.
