rule of strict liability

This was for the first time laid down by the court in the famous case of Rylands v Fletcher [1868].

 In 1860, John Rylands paid contractors to build a reservoir on his land, intending that it should supply the Ainsworth Mill with water. Rylands played no active role in the construction, instead of contracting out to a competent engineer. While building it, the contractors discovered a series of old coal shafts and passages under the landfilled loosely with soil and debris, which joined up with Thomas Fletcher's adjoining mine. Rather than blocking these shafts up, the contractors left them. On 11 December 1860, shortly after being filled for the first time, Rylands's reservoir burst and flooded Fletcher's mine, the Red House Colliery, causing £937 worth of damage. Fletcher pumped the water out, but on 17 April 1861, his pump burst, and the mine again began to flood. At this point, a mines inspector was brought in, and the sunken coal shafts were discovered. Fletcher brought a claim against John Rylands, the owner, and Jehu Horrocks, the manager of Rylands's reservoir on 4 November 1861.

  "Rule laid down in Rylands v Fletcher": That "the person who for his own purposes brings on his lands and collects and keeps there anything likely to do mischief if it escapes, must keep it in at his peril, and, if he does not do so, is prima facie answerable for all the damage which is the natural consequence of its escape".

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