| Venue: | Court of the Exchequer Chamber |
| Facts: | Fletched mines coal. Rylands runs a cotton mill next door. The Rylands property has been mined in the past, and has shafts. Rylands has a reservoir. It bursts, the water runs down the dirted-in shafts in the lands, and Fletcher's mine is spoiled. Mischief is done. |
| Posture: | Judgment for the defendants in the Court of the Exchequer Pleas. |
| Issue: | Should the plaintiff be allowed to recover, even though the defendant wasn't doing anything negligent? |
| Holding: | Yes. Reversed. |
| Rule: | If you have something dangerous on your property, you keep it at your peril, and you're liable for the consequences if it escapes. |
| Reasoning: | |
| Dicta: | |