[7][8][9] Accurate records were not maintained of the previous workings (known as Old Roookery Pit), and so the actual amount of earth separating the two mines was unknown.
[11] Between 11:30 and 11:40 am on 14 January 1895, whilst there was 240–260 miners underground,[note 1] a huge wall of water forced its way into the mine.
Modern estimates have surmised that the wall holding back the water was subject to 100 pounds per square inch (690 kPa) before it was breached.
[18] On hearing the inrush of water and feeling the rising levels, William Dodd, the under-manager who had an office at the bottom of No.
A rescue party went as far as they safely could into the mine, and they reported back that no tapping or other signs of life were evident, although, neither had any bodies been discovered.
The water in the shafts of Diglake was filling up, which meant that the depth of all the old workings was not as much as had been hoped and draining away the floodwater.
[22] Queen Victoria approved the awarding of the Albert Medal to William Dodd for his gallantry in connection with the disaster.
[25] Renowned international concert pianist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, donated the proceeds from his concert in Hanley in 1895, to the Diglake Colliery Disaster Fund,[26][27] and in February 1895 three men who had been involved in the rescue attempts, with a boy who was among those rescued, appeared at the Canterbury Music Hall in London during a dramatic recital of their actions to raise funds for a widows and orphans appeal.
This prompted fears that the workings would uncover the miners' bodies, which the company stated was not true as they would not be digging to the depth of where the remains would be.
In January 2020, on the 125th anniversary of the disaster, a sculpture of two kneeling miners were unveiled in the cemetery of Audley Methodist Church.