Memorials: Miners' Memorial, Conisbrough
Artist: Graham IBBESON

Artist:	not known
TitleOfWork:	‘Huskar Pit Memorial’
DateOfWork:	(after 1838)
Dimensions:	Height: 529; Base: 116 x 116
Medium:	sandstone
Location:	Silkstone, S. Yorkshire
Country:	UK - England
Photographer:	Dave Ball
ImageCopyright:	Sheffield Hallam University
AccessionNumber:	b011d
FileSize:	315520
Location: Upper corner of the churchyard, Silkstone Description: A square block mounted on three steps. The block has been covered with a second stone forming a lip above which are thin faces of stone carved with quotations from the Bible. The whole is capped by a high pyramid with protruding gables at its edges and corners and decorated with incised lines. The base of the monument is 116 cm square and its height to the bottom of the roof section is 180 cm. The pyramid top is 293 cm high. The steps are 55 cm high and 214 square at their base. Total height to ground is 529 cm. Inscriptions: Quotations appear around the base of the pyramid. rear: " There is but a step between me and death. / 1st Samuel XX Chap 3 Verse. " right facade: " 'Boats (sic) not thyself of tomorrow / Proverbs XXVII Chap 1 Verse " left facade: " 'Therefore be ye also ready. / Matthew XXIV Chap 44 Verse " front facade: " 'Take ye heed watch and pray for ye know / not when the time is. Mark XIII Chap 33 Verse " Main inscription on front reads: " THIS MONUMENT / was erected to perpetuate the re- / membrance of an aweful vifitation / of the Almighty which took place / in this Parifh on the 4th day of July 1838. / On that eventful day the Lord sent forth His Thunder; / Lighning, Hail and Rain, carrying devaftation before / them, and by a sudden irruption of Water into the / Coalpits of R.C.Clarke Esq.r twenty six human be- / ings whose names are recorded here were suddenly / Summon'd to appear before their Maker. / READER REMEMBER! / Every neglected call of God, will appear againft Thee / at the Day of Judgment. / Let this Solemn Warning then sink deep into thy hearts & / so prepare thee that the Lord when He cometh may find thee / WATCHING. " Right facade: " The mortal remains are deposited in the / Graves as undernamed, / 1st Grave beginning at the North end, (List of boys' names and their ages, which range from 7 years to 16)" Left facade: " The mortal remains of the Females / are deposited in the Graves at the feet of the / Males as undernamed, / 1st Grave beginning at the Sorth end, (List of girls' names and their ages, which range from 8 years to 17)" Commission: To commemorate the Huskar Pit Disaster on July 4th 1838. Comment: The inquest on the disaster was held in the Red Lion pub in Silkstone on July 12th 1838. Twenty-six children were drowned. One result of the disaster, following an official enquiry led by Lord Shaftesbury, was that it was subsequently made illegal for women and children to work in the mines. Questions: Who designed and built the memorial? Who raised the money and how much did it cost? When was it inaugurated and who attended?