November 5, 1839, remains a day etched in the sombre history of Midsomer Norton.

It was on this fateful day that the Wellsway Colliery witnessed a tragedy of unimaginable proportions, claiming the lives of twelve miners in a horrific accident. The incident unfolded when the rope, holding these men and boys, snapped, plunging them 756 feet to the pit's bottom.

The aftermath was gruesome: only one body was identifiable, the rest being horrifically dismembered.

Amidst the devastation, a chilling suspicion arose. The rope, seemingly new and capable of handling 37 hundredweight, bore marks as if cut by a knife or chisel. Despite indications of overmanning in the shift and an astute newspaper reporter highlighting this anomaly, the notion of foul play lingered.

George Kingston, the bailiff, recounted his shock at the inquest. He described the rope's sudden breakage and the ensuing crash, still grappling with the suggestion of intentional harm. Kingston, who had no knowledge of any animosity among the men, was bewildered by the tragic turn of events.

Thomas James, present in the pit at the time, recalled the last words of Will Summers, noting the rope's unusual movement just before the fall. John Fricker corroborated these accounts. Thomas Hill, one of the first to descend post-accident, described a nightmarish scene, likening it to an abattoir.

The inquest concluded that the rope had been cut, but no perpetrator was ever identified. This lack of a suspect prevented any charge of manslaughter due to negligence.

The Wellsway Colliery disaster took the lives of James Keevill (41), Mark Keevill (13), James Keevill, Jun (13), Richard Langford (45), Farnham Langford (15), Alfred Langford (13), James Pearce (17), William Summers (24), William Adams (20), Leonard Hooper Dowling (13), Amos Dando (12), and John Barnett (41). A mass grave in Midsomer Norton churchyard, with an inscription reminding all of life's fleeting nature, commemorates their lives.

The funeral was a profound display of communal grief, attended by four thousand people amidst torrential rain. The Wellsway proprietors provided the coffins, each draped in velvet, and the local vicar donated the burial ground. Funeral knells rang out in surrounding towns, and a procession of 120 pallbearers, including miners and local dignitaries, paid their respects.

A memorial stone, funded by the masters of the Wellsway Coalworks, stands in the churchyard, marking the tragedy. It was renewed in 1965 by the Somerset Miners, a testament to the enduring impact of this dark day on the community and the mining heritage of Somerset.