Barons Quay shopping centre in Leicester Street covers what was once an industrial and poor part of Northwich.

Before it could be built, £28 million had to be spent securing the ground due to the abandoned mine workings.

Entry to the mine was approximately where the old Marks and Spencer store, now B&M is situated, but there were others in the town centre area.

Witton Bank mine, Neummans mine and Penny’s Lane mine. Including Barons Quay West and Barons Quay East.

Before being filled in, all were abandoned with great chasms beneath the town.

This caused a lot of the subsidence when the abandoned workings either had water leaking into them or were deliberately allowed to fill the void before being pumped out as brine, causing the chasms to collapse.

The brine withdrawn was inelegantly called ‘Bastard Brine’ and caused most of the Northwich subsidence problems.

But that is enough of that; today’s story is of a sad accident at the Barons Quay mine that resulted in the death of a 16-year-old boy.

William Albert Holland lived in Winnington Park and was aged 16. He was employed as a driller at the Barons Quay rock salt mine.

The method of breaking into a seam of salt was by blasting it with black powder.

Blasting operations were being carried out. The inquest was held at The Victoria Infirmary in May 1890.

Joseph Poole from Marston was a rock miner working with Mark Rowe, James Moore and the deceased.

The three of them went to where they thought they would be safe behind a pillar.

A hole was made in the rock, the black powder poured in, and a fuse made of a straw filled with black powder was attached.

They stood for about two minutes before the fuse was ignited.

The fireman called out a warning, and they thought that they were safe away from danger, the blast went off, and none of them saw a large lump of rock salt hit William Holland.

They were about to get back to work when William was seen lying on the ground.

Joseph Poole went and picked him up, noticing that he was unconscious.

Only when he picked him up did he see blood running from his head and down his bare chest.

Mr Poole said the boy had been in his gang for six months and before that with other gangs, and was a good worker and well-liked.

When asked by the coroner why they did not see the rock hit him, Mr Poole explained that it was not dark as they had candles, but when the fireman shouts ‘Fire’, they all turn away, cover their ears and hide their faces.

The inquest went to and fro with the jury members asking questions and criticising what now we would call the health and safety precautions.

The deputy coroner, Mr Tibbits, adjourned the inquest to a later day with some expert witnesses called to be present.

When it resumed, it transpired that the deceased was not entirely behind the pillar when the charge went off.

At the end of the inquest, the coroner ordered that the cause of death on May 8, 1890, was from injuries he sustained accidentally during blasting operations at the Barons Quay rock salt pit at Witton.

He also stated that someone should be appointed to ensure everyone was at a safe distance before the fuse was lit.