A stratum of coal was leased to the appellants under two leases which reserved expressly the right of working the strata below. One of the leases, which covered the greatest portion of the area, provided for the indemnification of the lessees for any ‘physical damage’ thus caused; the other lease provided that there should be no liability for any damage caused. It was admitted that the proper way of working the seams in question was the long wall system; it was proved that the working of coal in a seam is inevitably followed by a sinking of the whole of the above strata. Subsidence of the upper stratum was actually brought about by the working of the lower stratum, and the appellants’ company, whose operations were impeded, sued for an injunction against the colliery company of the lower strata to have them restrained from causing subsidence.
Held that by the necessary implication of the leases of the upper stratum the respondents were entitled to work the lower seams even to the extent of causing subsidence.
Judges:
Earl of Halsbury, Lords Macnaghten, Atkinson, and Collins
Citations:
[1910] UKHL 901, 47 SLR 901
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Land
Updated: 25 April 2022; Ref: scu.619785