Miner's 'Scotch Davy' safety oil lamp, about 1880
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Science Museum Group
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Musuem
Miner's scotch safety lamp
Photographed straight on view on a
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Miner's 'Scotch Davy' safety oil lamp, about 1880.
The large internal volume of this design of lamp makes them unsafe. The size of the gauze is a deviation from the size specified for the Davy safety lamp. They were rapidly phased out after the Blantyre mining disaster on 22 October 1877, Scotland's worst mining disaster, in which at least 207 miners were killed. This type of unsafe, modified lamp was one of the most likely causes of the accident.
Details
- Category:
- Coal Mining
- Collection:
- Lancashire Coal Mining Collection
- Object Number:
- Y2002.19.36.1
- Measurements:
-
236 mm x 88 mm
- type:
- miner's oil safety lamp
- credit:
- Gift of Salford Museum and Art Gallery
