Cefn Coed Colliery roof fall, 1947

At about 4.30 on the morning of Saturday 26 April 1947 a large stone came down without warning on two colliers filling coal onto a conveyor at Cefn Coed Colliery, Crynant, in the Dulais valley, killing David Rees Morgan and Thomas John Hughes.

Date	26 April 1947
Mine	Cefn Coed Colliery
Region	Neath Port Talbot
Type	Collapse / Roof Fall
Fatalities	2 (David Rees Morgan, 39 (40 in the NMRS record), collier, a native of the village who had served six and a half years in the war and left a widow and two daughters; and Thomas John Hughes, 42, collier.)
Context	During active mining

A red steel headframe and a brick engine house with a tall chimney stand beyond a cleared concrete yard. — The headframe and engine house of the former Cefn Coed Colliery, now a museum, at Crynant Cedwyn Davies, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Cause

A fall of roof without warning: a stone five yards long and a yard thick crashed through a 'flat' onto the two men while they were filling and stripping coal.

Rescue & recovery

Workmates freed both men quickly, but they were already dead.

Recorded claims

Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.

On 26 April 1947 two colliers, David Rees Morgan and Thomas John Hughes, were killed by a fall of roof at Cefn Coed Colliery. ^1,2,3
The roof fell without warning while they were filling and stripping coal. ^2,3
The stone that fell measured five yards long and a yard thick. ¹

Related terminology

Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.

Coal (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the summary: “…1947 a large stone came down without warning on two colliers filling coal onto a conveyor at Cefn Coed Colliery, Crynant, in the Dulais…”
Colliery (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s summary: “…warning on two colliers filling coal onto a conveyor at Cefn Coed Colliery, Crynant, in the Dulais valley, killing David Rees Morgan and Thomas…”
Roof Fall (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s cause: “A fall of roof without warning: a stone five yards long and a yard thick crashed…”

Sources

(secondary) 1947 (Welsh mining fatalities by date) — Welsh Coal Mines
(secondary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: D.R. Morgan, Cefn Coed, 26 April 1947 — Northern Mine Research Society
(secondary) NMRS Coal Mining Accidents and Deaths: T.J. Hughes, Cefn Coed, 26 April 1947 — Northern Mine Research Society

Record created: 25 October 2026 · Last researched: 25 October 2026