Cwmllynfell Colliery explosion, 1825

In 1825 an explosion at the Cwmllynfell anthracite mines in the upper Swansea Valley, opened five years earlier by Reynolds and Aubrey, killed 59 men. A plaque at the national mining memorial garden in Senghenydd records it.

Date	1825
Mine	Cwmllynfell Colliery
Region	Neath Port Talbot
Type	Explosion
Fatalities	59 (59 men.)
Context	During active mining

Paved approach to a memorial garden with a railing, an information board and low stone walls under a blue sky. — The Welsh National and Universal Mining Memorial Garden, Senghenydd, where a plaque records the 1825 Cwmllynfell disaster John Lord, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph

What happened

The Cwmllynfell mines, known locally as 'the Clink', were a series of anthracite workings opened in 1820 by Reynolds and Aubrey. In 1825 an explosion there killed 59 men. The day, the cause and the names of the dead are not recorded in the accounts that survive.

The colliery itself went on, owned by James and Aubrey through the mid-nineteenth century and working, with breaks, until 1959.

Memorials & commemoration

A plaque to the 1825 Cwmllynfell Colliery disaster stands in the Welsh National and Universal Mining Memorial Garden at Senghenydd.

Recorded claims

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

An explosion at Cwmllynfell in 1825 killed 59 men. ^1,2
The Cwmllynfell anthracite mines, known as 'the Clink', had been opened in 1820 by Reynolds and Aubrey. ¹
A plaque to the 1825 Cwmllynfell disaster is in the Welsh National and Universal Mining Memorial Garden at Senghenydd. ³

Related terminology

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

Colliery (contextual relationship)
Named twice in this record, first in the narrative: “…of the dead are not recorded in the accounts that survive. The colliery itself went on, owned by James and Aubrey through the mid-nineteenth…”

Photographs & further reading

This page doesn't try to reproduce everything — these are the best original sources found for this disaster.

Cwmllynfell Colliery (NMRS) (reference)

The colliery's history from 1820 to its closure in 1959.

View source

1825 Cwmllynfell Colliery Disaster memorial (Durham Mining Museum) (reference)

A photograph of the memorial plaque at Senghenydd.

View source

Sources

(secondary) Cwmllynfell Colliery — Northern Mine Research Society (Ray Lawrence)
(primary) Colliery Disaster: Cwmllynfell, 1825 — Durham Mining Museum
(primary) Memorial: 1825 Cwmllynfell Colliery Disaster — Durham Mining Museum

Record created: 4 October 2026 · Last researched: 4 October 2026