Oaks Colliery Disaster Memorial

The Oaks Colliery Disaster Memorial was erected in 1913 by the architects' practice Wade and Turner, with stonemasonry by Peter Dalby. The sculpture is a copy of an original by Marius Jean Antonin Mercie, and the iron railings were created by C Downing. It was commissioned by Samuel Joshua Cooper.

The memorial is made from Bolton Wood stone and bronze. It features a high pedestal composed of two adjoining squares, each with moulded entablatures and deep plinths. At the rear square stands a tall ashlar obelisk, while the front square displays a bronze group. The pedestal is set on a two-stepped podium and is surrounded by a rectangular railing enclosure.

The obelisk has a moulded base and a bronze finial. The bronze group represents Athene as a classical winged female figure, depicted in forward movement with flowing robes and wearing a gilded cuirass. She carries a wounded or dying naked soldier holding a broken sword over her left shoulder. An owl, symbolizing wisdom and commonly associated with Athene, stands at her feet on the circular bronze base.

The ashlar frieze of the pedestal is inscribed with the words GLORIA VICTIS. Below this, there is an inset rectangular bronze panel framed with moulded ashlar. It features raised lettering that reads: OAKS EXPLOSION 1866 / THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED / ANNO DOMINI 1913 / BY SAMUEL JOSHUA COOPER / AS A TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF / PARKIN JEFFCOCK AND / OTHER HEROES OF THE RESCUE / PARTIES WHO LOST THEIR LIVES / OWING TO FURTHER EXPLOSIONS / ON DECEMBER 13TH 1866 / ALSO TO COMMEMORATE / THE SIGNAL BRAVERY OF / JOHN EDWARD MAMMATT AND / THOMAS WILLIAM EMBLETON / IN DESCENDING THE PIT AND / RESCUING THE SOLE SURVIVOR / ON DECEMBER 14TH 1866.

The entire pedestal is raised on a two-step stone podium and is enclosed by iron railings that rest on a low, coursed stone wall with chamfered coping stones.