CADAIR FACH COLLIERY
Llanharan (974848)
This was a small level that was worked under license from the National Coal Board in 1972 when it worked the No.2 Rhondda seam and was managed by C. Windos. It was owned at that time by the Cadair Fach Trading Company based in Pontypridd and continued with this company although by 1980 it was based in Treherbert.
COED CAE FADRE COLLIERY
Llantwit Fadre, Llantrisant. 069857.
There was a Coedcae Vardre level that worked between c1864 and 1874 in the No.3 Llantwit seam. It was owned by David Williams.
The name then pops up as a small level that was worked by Charles Gubbings in 1916 to 1919. Mr. Gubbings then brought in a partner and until 1920 it was owned by Gubbings and Williams. In 1921 Williams had departed and this colliery was back in the sole hands of Christopher Gubbings. In 1922 he formed the Coed Cae Vardre Colliery Company which worked this mine until it closed in 1924. In 1918 it employed 6 men underground and 1 man on the surface. Mr. Gubbings did not join the Monmouthshire and South Wales Coal Owners Association. It abandoned the No.3 Rhondda seam in April 1924. At that time it employed 7 men.
DEHEWYD COLLIERY
Llantwit Farde 078857.
The Dehewedd Drift worked the No.2 Llantwit seam between 1886 and 1887 under the ownership of G.W. Ellis, then in the period 1888 until its abandonment in 1891 by the Llantwit Red Ash Coal Company.
The Dehewedd Upper Pit (078857) worked the Nos. 2 Llantwit as early as 1851 and the No.3 Llantwit as early as 1855.
The Dehewyd Lower Pit (078853) was also called the Rica Pit and was worked between 1874 and 1878 firstly by the Rica Llantwit Coal Company, then by Evan Williams in 1875, the Llantwit Coal Company in 1876, Thomas Jones in 1877 who abandoned it.
DINAS ISHA COLLIERY
Tonyrefail
This mine was worked by the Dinas Isha Colliery Company as early as 1878 when it was managed by D.R. Thomas. In 1884 it was owned by Daniel Thomas and Company and managed by Howell John. It was owned by the Ely Rhondda Colliery Company in 1893 when the manager was David Jones and employed 97 men underground and 13 men on the surface in 1896 when still owned by the Ely Rhondda Colliery Company of Penygraig. The manager was James Morris. It employed 90 men underground and 11 men on the surface in 1908 when it was managed by Frederick Lewis. It employed 101 men in 1909 and 88 men in 1911. It abandoned the No.3 Rhondda seam in December 1907, the No.2 Rhondda in November 1911 and the Forest Fach seam in October 1926 when it probably closed.
DUKE COLLIERY
Tonyrefail, Ely Valley 008874
This was a small level that worked the Cefn Glas seam extensively and called this seam the Ty Du which was sometimes the name of the colliery. The thickness of this seam was; coal, 34 inches, dirt 2 inches, coal 16 inches. This seam was rarely worked due to its high sulphur content.
ELY VALLEY COLLIERY
Tonyrefail, Ely Valley
This level pops up in 1905 when it employed eight men and was owned by the Ely Valley Colliery Company.
FOREST FACH COLLIERY
Tonyrefail, Ely Valley
In 1918 a Fforest Fach Level at Tonyrefail was managed by W. Davies and employed 18 men. It employed 20 men in 1923 and 19 men in 1927. It was owned by Locket’s Merthyr Company it was part of the Cilely Colliery.
GELLIGRON COLLIERY
Llantrisant 007894.
This small mine worked the Hafod seam until it was abandoned in November 1908. It employed 4 men in 1899 and 3 men in 1903 and was owned in 1899 by W. Baldwyn but then idle between 1900 and 1902 until the Gelligron Colliery Company worked it between 1903 and 1905.
GELYNOG COLLIERY
Llantrisant
The Nos. 1 and 2 worked the No.3 Llantwit seam around 1866 while the Gelynog Red Ash abandoned that seam in November 1908. They were sunk to c300 feet and also worked the No.2 Llantwit which had a section of, coal 30 inches, dirt 15 feet, coal 12 inches, dirt 3 inches, coal 30 inches, while the No.3 Llantwit was; coal 6 inches, dirt parting, coal 36 inches, dirt parting, coal 24 inches. It employed 23 men in 1907.
Some statistics:
- 1899: Manpower: 33.
- 1900: Manpower: 63.
- 1901: Manpower: 20.
- 1905: Manpower: 19.
- 1907: Manpower: 23.
GLAN MYCHYDD COLLIERY
Llantrisant 042850.
This was an obscure little mine that was listed in 1865/9 as being owned by the Earl of Talbot. It was not listed in 1871.
GLYN COLLIERY
Tonyrefail, Ely Valley (02538878)
This was a small mine that consisted of the Cwm and Cwm Water Levels and worked the No.3 Rhondda seam at a thickness of between 31 inches and 36 inches. It also extensively worked the No.2 Rhondda seam which had a thickness of coal 14 inches, dirt 6 inches, coal 24 inches and the Forest Fach seam. It was owned by the Glyn Colliery Company of Tonyrefail in 1884 when managed by J. Gibbon and employed 232 men underground and 34 men on the surface in 1896 when the manager was Thomas Williams and operated between 1878 and 1903. In 1899 it employed 297 men, in 1900 it employed 300 men, in 1901 it employed 359 men and in 1902 it employed 335 men. It was listed as abandoned in 1903. There was a Glyn Colliery listed in 1858/65 as being near Llantrisant. It was owned by William Thomas.
GRAIG LAS COLLIERY
Ely Valley 972868.
This was a series of small levels that worked the Daren Ddu or Upper Glynogwr seam which had a thickness of coal 27 inches, dirt 6 inches, coal 12 inches, dirt 6 inches, coal 9 inches, dirt 12 inches, coal 12 inches.
It was opened by the Graig Las Colliery Company in 1917 and subsequently owned by R.P. Williams, 1918 to 1919, then back to the Graig Las Colliery Company, whose board consisted of Williams, Samuel Thomas, John Hopkins, and Jenkin Edwards. The levels (four in all) were stopped in 1920 and all work was suspended in 1922. They were abandoned in 1925. The Graiglas Colliery Company under the control of Thomas Rees re-opened the mine in 1927 and finally abandoned it in 1934. It employed 19 men on closure and 37 men in 1920.
HENDREWEN COLLIERY
Llanharan, Llantrisant
This was a small mine that was opened by T.J. Price in 1881, he worked it until 1883 when it was closed. It was reopened in 1901 and owned by W. Shapland and employed 41 men in 1902 and 95 men in 1903. It was abandoned in 1904.
Part of the Brynna Gwynnon complex.
IDA COLLIERY
Beddau 062852.
This pit was sunk to a depth of 60 yards to the No.1 Llantwit Seam by Powells Llantwit Company in 1873. It was idle in 1874 but by 1875 it was owned by Powell’s Llantwit Collieries Limited closing in 1876.
KILLOWEY COLLIERY
Llantwit Fardre, Llantrisant
This was a small mine that was owned by Thomas Walters of Llantwit Fardre and employed 51 men in 1923. It was listed as not working in 1927 and abandoned in 1928.
LLANBAED COLLIERY
Brynna near Llantrisant (992849)
There was a mine of this name driven in 1884 by the Llanbaed Colliery Company looking for a good seam to work. They failed and it was abandoned in 1888.
The Llanbad Drifts were at 986846/991848/990841. They were worked under license from the National Coal Board in 1955/59 by H.H. Armstrong of Bridgend. It was G.W. Armstrong and Others from 1960 to 1963 who produced 5,666 tons of coal employing 12 men in 1960. A.L. & D.G. Hall were the owners between 1963 and 1965 but they went bust and the mine was taken over by W.E. Jones in 1965, although the mine was stated to have 124,000 tons of coal reserves it was abandoned in 1966. It worked the No.2 Rhondda seam which was abandoned in 1966. See also South Rhondda Colliery.
LLANHILID COLLIERY
Llantrisant
This was an opencast site operated by D. Crouch in 1979 when it produced 156,004 tonnes of coal and employed 212 men.
LLETTY MAWR COLLIERY
Near Llantrisant 789990.
This mine was also known as Lower Llantwit Colliery. In 1903 it employed 16 men, in 1905 it employed 19 men, in 1907 the Lletty Mawr and Tanygraig employed 28 men underground working in the Wenallt seam and 8 men at the surface of the mine. At that time it was owned by Edwards & Howells of Aberdulais and managed by Paul Williams. Lletty Mawr employed 16 men underground and 2 men on the surface in 1908 and was closed in 1909 when it abandoned the Wenallt seam.
PARK HOUSE COLLIERY
Llantwit Fadre, Llantrisant 076839.
This was a small level that worked the No.3 Llantwit seam at a thickness of between 48 inches to 58 inches. It was owned by the Park House and Gas Coal Company from 1905 and employed 22 men in 1907 and 17 men in 1908 when D.P. Thomas was manager. It was abandoned in April 1909.
PRESCOED COLLIERY
Church Village, Pontypridd (09698468)
This was a small 19th Century level that worked the Cefn Glas seam which had a thickness of coal 8 inches, dirt 14 inches, and coal 26 inches.
RACKET COLLIERY
Tonyrefail, Ely Valley 039877.
This was a small level that was owned by Joseph Hawkins and employed four men in 1923/4. It worked between 1921 and 1924.
TAIR COLLIERY
Upper Boat, near Pontypridd (11488711)
This was a small level that worked a seam called the Stinking Vein at a thickness of 24” towards the end of the 20th Century.
TY DU COLLIERY
Tonyrefail, Ely Valley 008874.
This was a small level that was one of the very few that worked the Ty Du seam. It had a section of up to 48 inches.
In 1874 it was owned by W.W. Lewis but was not listed in 1875. In 1894 a West Rhonnda or Ty Du was owned by F.T. McDonnell of London and had been stopped.
TYLECHAFACH COLLIERY
Tonyrefail 017868. Tylcha Isaf 012869.
This was a small level that was opened in 1874 by Hugh Begg and owned in 1877/79 by the Tylchafach Colliery Company and then by the Tylchafach Coal Company in 1880. It was one of the very few to work the Ty Du seam which had a thickness in this area of 48 inches. In 1907/8 it employed 58 men and was owned by the Welsh Navigation Steam Coal Company of Llantrisant. It was managed by H. Begg in 1878 and by Griffith Jones in 1908/1913. It employed 397 men in 1915 and 273 men in 1916 was not listed in 1917 but in 1918 it was managed by S. Davies (he was the manager in 1915) and employed 322 men. It employed 292 men in 1919 and in 1923 it employed 321 men working underground and 35 men working at the surface of the mine. The manager was Thomas John. Manpower had dropped to only 38 in 1927 when it was managed by W. Griffiths. It abandoned the Ty Du seam in 1930. At that time it employed 29 men.
TYNANT (TYN-Y-NANT) COLLIERY
Llantrisant 067852.
This small mine was worked by Thomas Powell, and when he died in 1863 it fell to his son Thomas Junior. In 1871 he formed Powell’s Llantwit Coal Company to work it. It abandoned the No.3 seam in 1876.
YSTRAD BARWIG COLLIERY
Llantrisant 074846.
A small mine that was served by the Taff Vale Railway and had a sidings capacity for; 78 full wagons, and 166 empty wagons. It worked the No.2 Llantwit seam which had a thickness of 87 inches of mixed coal and dirt bands, the No.3 Llantwit around 1858 and the No.1 Llantwit around 1896. It was 567 feet deep and had closed by 1897.
In 1920 the Ystrad Barwg and Ystrad Barwg Uchaf appear. They were owned by the Home Fires Colliery Company of London with the Uchaf employing six men in that year. In 1923 D.H.J. Colliery Company were the owners and employed 6 men in 1923.
It was abandoned in 1924
Information supplied by Ray Lawrence and used here with his permission.
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