MineArchiveCwmgwrach explosion, 1820
| Date | 9 June 1820 |
|---|---|
| Mine | Cwmgwrach Colliery |
| Region | Neath Port Talbot |
| Type | Explosion |
| Fatalities | 5 (Five, among them Elizabeth Pendry, 6, and Annie Tonks, 12. The other three are not named in the sources read.) |
| Context | During active mining (Early coal workings at Cwmgwrach in the Vale of Neath, where mining had been going on since the first years of the 1800s and children worked underground.) |
On 9 June 1820 an explosion in the coal workings at Cwmgwrach, in the Vale of Neath, killed five people. Two of them were girls, Elizabeth Pendry, aged six, and Annie Tonks, aged twelve. The names of the other three dead, the owner and the cause are not recorded in the sources read.
Cause
An explosion, presumably of firedamp; the cause is not recorded in the sources read.
Recorded claims
Individual factual claims, each attached to the source(s) that support it below. Where sources disagree, both are kept.
- An explosion on 9 June 1820 killed five people, of whom two were girls: Elizabeth Pendry, aged six, and Annie Tonks, aged twelve. 1
- The Coal Mining History Resource Centre records an explosion at Cumgwrach, Neath, on 9 June 1820 with five dead, two of them girls, Elizabeth Pendry, 6, and Annie Tonks, 12. 1,2
Related terminology
Mining terms this disaster is structurally linked to, with the nature of the relationship.
- Coal (contextual relationship)
Named in this record’s summary: “On 9 June 1820 an explosion in the coal workings at Cwmgwrach, in the Vale of Neath, killed five people. Two…” - Firedamp (hazard involved)
An explosion, presumably of firedamp.
Sources
- (primary) Blaengwrach, Cwmgwrach and Empire collieries — Welsh Coal Mines, with notes by Tony Cooke
- (secondary) Mining disasters 1820-39 (Coal Mining History Resource Centre accounts) — Coal Mining History Resource Centre (Ian Winstanley)
Record created: 10 September 2026 · Last researched: 14 September 2026